Yeah. Yeah. what a wonderful day it is to be together on this day to worship the Lord, and not just as individuals, but instead as the family of God. Now, we are here to worship with you, but first let me just offer a special welcome to our visitors. If we haven't met yet, I'd love to meet you, and I'll be out under the portico right after the service, so long as I don't get blown away or anything like that when these gale force winds. Today should make us extra grateful for it. Nice, wonderful sanctuary like ours where we can gather. I joked around and said I had a head full of hair when I walked out of my house this morning. and a lot of it is a lot of things going on something starting back up tomorrow and then it starts back up uh... also started to set up a vacation by the flier about that uh... devotionals are back up and running monday to friday at our bible study prayer meeting of bible study which is wednesday at six forty five and we would love to see you there for that. Youth group, Little Lambs, all those things. Now, one thing is immediately after church, youth group, okay, and youth group age students, you and your families are invited to stay and have lunch with Elizabeth and Will and the rest of the youth group, and that's gonna be at Providence Hall, so if you have any questions, see either Will or Elizabeth about that. Now, I'm not gonna make any more announcements because we had a treat this morning as the men offer special music, so I'm gonna invite them up now. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd come. I knew So, Bye-bye. so um I love you. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ben, so much for that. What a wonderful reminder as we come together to worship now. This morning speaks of the salvation that we have in Jesus Christ. It serves as a wonderful reminder. of what the Lord would have us do. In Psalm 130, we read that the psalmist writes, out of the depths I call to you, O Lord. Lord, listen to my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for help. O Lord, you should keep an account of iniquities. Who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, I wait and put my hope in his word. I wait for the Lord more than the watchman for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for there is faithful love with the Lord, and with him is redemption in abundance. My friends, of course, we know that every Psalm points forward to Jesus Christ, and this, speaking of Israel, it's not about some plot of land in the Middle East. Instead, it is about the people of God. It is about the seed of Abraham. As we know from Relations 3, all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ are the seed of Abraham, God's true Israel. This is talking about us, and the promise is just as real today as it was then. This is the same Lord that we serve, the one who doesn't keep track of our iniquities. Because if he did, how could any of us stand? No, we couldn't. Instead, in him there is love and redemption, and he bids us come to him. So let us do that just now as we go to him in prayer, after which we'll pray the Lord's Prayer and then confess the Apostles' Creed together. But let's go to him now. Our God and our Father, we praise you that you have given us this time, this opportunity, the ability even to be here gathered together as your people so that we can pray, so that we can lift up songs of praise, so that we can go to your word. Father, in all of these things, it is our desire to glorify you, to be transformed by this time even. and to leave here has changed people. Father, we can't change ourselves. We can't turn the lights on in our minds or in our hearts. We need you. We need your Holy Spirit to guide us so that this time would be pleasing to you, yes, but also, Father, so that this time would transform us. So please, be with us now by your Holy Spirit. We pray these things in Christ's name and we also pray as he talks in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. What is it that you believe? Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From this he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christ, The resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen and amen. Now let's continue our worship. I'll take it back and hold it. And stand in with me as we turn to number 213, crown him with many crowns. Number 213, please. uh uh But every time for me, I thank you that the sun has to stay through all eternity. In the glory of the Lord, may all beings accept the sun. Praise to the death of the sun, And it's to be strong. Into the heart of the beast. This is a gift that the hearts of men and of the sexes of men shall receive. We who hold the gifts of the Holy Spirit shall not stumble. Oh, when you sit at the gates of hell, you'll never be free. and you may be some children, come on down to the children's club. Or you sit there. Now sit over here. I'll step to you, okay? All right, guys. All right, there we go. You got the same one? Here we go. You got it? I think you got enough room in your back. Pick your feet up a little bit. Watch your nocks. I've been right on that before, it's not us. All right. So now we can't see each other. See, I actually trust my wife on some things. Anyway, how are you guys doing this morning? Good. All right. Let me ask you guys a question. You ever got a bad grade or bad report card at school? Yeah, guess what? I did, too. I actually got a lot of bad grades when I was your age. But anyway, when you have to bring home a bad grade or bad report card, are you excited or are you nervous to show your parents? Nervous, that's right. So imagine your grades, for instance, are all Ds and Fs. Don't raise your hand if they actually are. But that's not good, right? No, it's not. When you go home and show your parents all these grades, they open them up and they say, wow, you got straight A's and B's. Isn't that great? What do you guys probably think? You're thinking, well, I must have gotten the wrong report card, or someone put the wrong name, right? But you look at it, and it is, in fact, all straight A's. Your parents aren't just going crazy. But it's actually not your work. We'll come back to that. We're in 1 Peter, chapter 2, starting in verse 20. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. But continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were strained like sheep and now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. So, the reason I brought up grades and a bad report card is that that's how and how we open that one, and all of a sudden straight A's, that's kind of what Christ did for us. We, in fact, are full of sin from the moment we're born, actually. But that moment that Christ died on the cross, he took them all away from us, and we are able to live in righteousness with the Father, and that's what we call sanctification. You guys are gonna learn a bit more about what exactly that means, but to go, I'll leave you with this. Sanctification is what allows you to be viewed as being washed white as snow. beautiful as the lamb. So, you'll learn a bit more about that in that catechism question in Children's Church, but you can ask prayer with me in the distance. Dear Lord, I thank you for this day, this wonderful Sunday that we get to come together as your church to gather and lift praises to you. Lord, I ask that as we all go forward with this worship, as these children go to Children's Church and we stay in here, that you allow us to remember that we, in fact, have not washed ourselves by the snow, and it's you As we read from the psalmist about waiting on the Lord, maybe you're waiting on the Lord for someone, Take this time to consider those things. Eternal God and Heavenly Father, as the psalmist was right in the eighth psalm, so we say now, O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. And we begin this way as we come to you because truly there are none beside you. No one compares to you in power and might. As you're seated in all of your holy grandeur above the cosmos, as your word says, holding the universe in your very hands, ordaining and maintaining all things, no one compares to your power. No one compares to your knowledge. No one knows like you do. Understanding all things. Knowing the words before they're even in our hearts and minds, much less on our lips. No one knows like you, no one hears like you hear. Hearing not just that which is audible, those groanings of our heart. Those moments where there's hurt and loss and heartache too deep. Too frightening to even say out loud, you hear these. Father, all of these come as a result of the fact that no one loves like you do. No one forgives like you. As we read from your word, if you should count iniquities, who could stand? Certainly none of us. No people at all. In fact, we know that in the history of history, there has only been one. He was perfect, your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. Though he had no sin in him, he became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God. Father, we don't deserve any of this. We did nothing to earn it. We've certainly done nothing to work our way into your favor, and yet you give and you forgive. You love and you provide. You're close to us, not just in our obedience, but Father, in our proneness to wandering. You come and get us, and you hang on to us. Oh, Father, in light of all of these things, first, we ask for forgiveness for those times where you were leading. Those times when we would run ahead of you or behind you. Those times where we would twist your word even though we may not even know you. Please forgive us for those times that we have fallen short. Father, also, we come praising you. Work in our hearts and our minds that we would remember who you are. Not a cruel dictator, as some would have us believe, and certainly not the god of the world around us. Exists to be no more than some cosmic gene. Instead, you are the holy one. He called us to be holy. And of ourselves, we can't, but in Christ we stand. And so Father, we come now standing in Him. Please hear our prayers. We know that you do, but Father, please attend to them. For those things that are up front and obvious, people that are sick, those that are struggling, we think of the Harris family even now, we pray for mercy. We think of others who have had surgery or will be having surgery, all of these situations. We pray for the obvious. But Father, right now in this moment, this moment as I've been given the honor to offer this pastoral prayer, I pray for those things that we're too scared to even think about, much less face. I ask for those things that we're too frightened to ask for. because I know that you're not just the God of the universe, you're our Father and you love us. Father, these things can be so varied. We can become confused. So in light of these things, we pray that you would draw us back to yourself. Let us see with your eyes, let us hear what you would have us to hear and let us be transformed as a result. Not only for our good, that we desire that, but for the good of your kingdom, so that those around us would see and know that we're different, not odd, different, that we have that which the world promises but never delivers, that we have peace. And sure, not because of us, but because of you. So Father, please work in our hearts to that end, work in the hearts of your church universal to that end, so that the world around us will know and see that you are the everlasting God, that your Holy Spirit still fills and guides, sustains and comforts, and that your Son and our Savior truly is the greatest friend we could ever possibly have, but he's the one that has gone ahead of us. He's the one that has risen again and all out of love. So Father, please work to that end, help us to hold on to you, and we pray it all in Christ's name. Let's take our green Bible song books now and continue in our worship and turn to number 263. As we sing, it's actually Psalm 121, but it's Bible Psalm number 263. God shall guard from everything. Please stand with me. Thanks for watching! I can't stop it. I can't stop it. Even in the midst of such a scenario as this day and time, somehow our motivations are aligned, and somehow we reach our goal. We are still on the brink of a very complicated, Father, as we consider you, we know that what we just looked up is true. You hang on to us and work in our hearts and in our minds and in our lives. You provide all that we need. So, Father, in light of that, now as we return to you out of I pray that you will bless the gift and the giver that you would grow your kingdom as a result. And I pray it all in Christ's name. um so Okay. Okay. Okay. um We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. We don't want to do what they're saying. I don't know. I'm. Thank you very much, choir. I should have made this ask a question, but the choir just looked it up. Do you want to change? Do you want to be like God? Do you want to remain like you? I hope that it's your desire that you would be captive to the word of God, that you'd be transformed. And not just because you've got to, but because you get to. It's with the understanding that God tells you what he tells you in his word and has the desires that he has for you, not out of a sense of conformity, but because he loves you. So I hope that you have that desire. Who knows what's best? I hope that you have that desire. So thank you, choir. Well, it's good to be back with y'all as we continue along in our current series on the book of Revelation. Now, the last time we were together, last week we had the Lord's Supper, and so I really focused more on communion instead of the book of Revelation. But the last time we were together, we were in chapter two, and we were in Pergamon, right? Jesus led her to the church in Pergamon. Maybe you remember, some things about Pergamum, that it held some interesting things, right? It was an extremely wealthy city. Also, that it held a temple to Caesar himself, right? Not just gods and goddesses, but to Caesar himself, okay? That's why Jesus talked about Satan's throne being in Pergamum. Also, he talked about how immoral of a place Pergamum really was, that it was this den of sin and debauchery. Hence, Jesus said that's not only where Satan's throne is, Jesus said, Okay, so let your mind wander a little bit. How bad of a place does it have to be for Jesus, when he looks at it, to say, oh, Pergamon, that's where the devil lives, okay? Now, with that in your mind, you're gonna imagine this would have had a profound effect on the church in Pergamon, resulting in many things, including them trying to take the philosophy of the world and somehow, someway fit it into scripture. Somehow, someway take the philosophy of the world because the world is corrupt. God isn't. The world is temporary. God's eternal, the world is full of sin. God is holy. And the end result of their attempt to do this was the promise that Jesus made, not a threat, a promise that if they didn't turn back to him, if they didn't repent and turn from this, that he would wage war More against the false teachers, yes, but more against all those that follow them. Jesus means business, y'all, when it comes to this stuff, when it comes to his word. Remember that the terminology he used, he called himself something, he said he had something, he said, I am the one with the double-edged sword. And y'all, that kind of sword was used by warriors in battle, yes, but it was also used by executioners. So what Jesus is really saying here to them is he, they didn't turn back to him, he was gonna wage war against the false teachers and he was gonna execute that church. Again, it's not a threat, it's a promise. Now obviously the application for us is that we need to make sure that we're not doing what they were doing, trying to fit the church into the world and vice versa with its philosophies and its ideas. And just like the warning to Pergamum is for us, also the promise Jesus says that he actually gave them this wonderful promise that if they would turn to him, if they would trust him, and he promises you this too, you know. If you'll just turn to him, Jesus promises relationship and reward, his presence in this life, but also eternal reward. And he gave them this calling to hang on to the truth. And so with this in mind, we move on today from Bergamot Revelation chapter two, verse 18 is where we will start. But before we read anything, we need to pray because y'all, I'm just going to tell you right now, there's some controversial stuff here. So the session this morning, it didn't give me tingly feelings on the inside to preach some of what I'm going to preach today. Might make some of you very, very upset. I told Isabella and Amanda last night when we were doing our devotionals as a family, that when we prayed, we prayed for the day because I said, this is some stuff that's kind of heavy stuff. But I even, in a moment of weakness, thought, well, maybe I'll just ride around it. And you didn't bring me here to ride around stuff. You've brought me here to preach the full counsel of God's word, and so that's, by God's grace, what we will do today. But we need to pray first, so let's go to him. Our God and our fathers, we come to your word today. We come, again, facing a major deficit. We bring all of these preconceived notions with us, these ideas. Father, we bring the effects of the world with us. We bring those things that would burden us. We bring so many things that would take us away from you and would pull our attention away from you, and I don't know what this means. In terms of attention span, I mean in terms of our hearts being heavy and our minds being dead. The fact is, I'm just getting started here, but there may be people here that are already at the restaurant they're going to, and whichever one it may be are sitting around the table in their minds, and you know that, Father, so I pray that you would pierce through all these things that we would hear, that we would understand, and that, Father, as we come to these difficult parts, that we would realize This is your word, it's not ours to write, it's not ours to bend, and certainly not ours to skip around. But instead, let us be captive to you. So Father, by your Holy Spirit, please guide us in these things, and we pray it all in Christ's name. Amen. So, Revelation chapter two, beginning in verse 18. Hear now the word of the Lord. It says, write to the angel of the church of Thyatira. Pause it really quick, remember the angel is the pastor, right? Jesus is saying this to John, he's writing it down, he's gonna give it to the pastor of Thyatira, he's gonna tell the church, right? So, write to the angel of the church of Thyatira, thus says the son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze. I know your words. But I have this against you. You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction unless they repent of then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. I say to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold this teaching, who haven't known the so-called secrets of Satan, as they say, I'm not putting any other burden on you, only hold on to me. and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He will shatter them like pottery. Just as I have received this from my Father, I will also give Him the morning star. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. We'll stop reading right there. May God bless the reading of His holy, inerrant, and infallible word. Amen and amen. Well, let's just be honest as we get started here. There's some serious stuff going on in Thyatira, isn't there? Difficult, difficult things, very serious. And remember who we've just heard. You know, oftentimes when we talk about God's Word, we talk about, you know, Paul wrote that. Remember the paradigm here. John is the writer of the book of Revelation. All he's doing is recording, okay? This is Jesus speaking and John recording that which he hears from Jesus. So we're getting the direct word of God from the living word, Jesus himself. And I just have to say, this doesn't mean that this section that we've read is more Bible than something Paul did, right? It's all God's word that he breathed out. But this is who's speaking, we're hearing Jesus, okay? And I mentioned this last week, and I think the week before, but here's the reality, y'all. If you hear this and you find yourself saying, wait a second, I'm gonna kill all of her children and you know, waging war, that doesn't sound like Jesus to me. You're saying that and there's a distinct possibility that you've been listening to far too much of the world's philosophy about who Jesus is supposed to be and what Jesus is supposed to be like. You realize the world has always done this, right? Whether it was when he was here and it was the Pharisees or sends it in when people misrepresent it. The world has always known this with Jesus and will until it's returned. But don't fall into that trap. If you want to know Jesus, Okay, if you wanna understand what Jesus is like, the example I've used is the Jesus seminar back in the 60s and 70s where all these scholars got together, none of them believed God's word. They got together, they voted on the red letter statements in God's word to decide what they believed was true or not, what Jesus really said and what they didn't, and they would vote on each one of the statements, and it was said of them that they went to the well to find our Savior, and they looked in and saw. What do you see when you look into a well but your own reflection, right? Jesus looked just like that, imagine that, isn't that something? Don't do that. Look, here's the thing. Listen to Jesus. If you wanna know what Jesus is like, I promise you, he tells you who he is and his word. Go to the source, okay? But getting back to Revelation 2, these are strong words. But there's strong words from Jesus for a very serious situation. So let's just go ahead and ask, what in the world is going on in Thyatira? Well, first, let's talk about the city itself. It's not the same as Pergamos. It is well-known. It is influential, but it's not as important, you might say, in some aspects. But it was a major city, and it was very important in one aspect. So you can't tell from this map, but Bathyatira, just like the other seven churches, are in what's modern-day Turkey. And if we did have a map of the Roman road system, you would see that at Bathyatira, you're looking at a major intersection of two central trade routes. Everybody wanted stuff that came out of Asia, okay, because of the wealth of their resources. And Thyatira just happens to be at a major, major intersection. So that results in two things. Number one, they had a major Roman garrison that was situated there. So a big chunk of the Roman army was put right there because of the ability to mobilize them. There's another thing going on. Because these are two major, major trade routes, what you found in Thyatira, though it's not as prestigious as Pergamum, it was very wealthy because you found a gigantic tradesman's guild. These were skilled craftsmen. If you were going to live there and if you were going to do business, you had to be a part of that tradesman, As it was with Pergamum, and any major Roman city for that matter, you also found something else, and that is immorality. The worship of false gods and goddesses was a really big problem. So just like Pergamum, the church existed in this morally corrupt society, and it faced the temptation to be like the world. To accept the things of the world, the things that society accepted, the church faced that temptation to do. To believe what society believed. And what they faced wasn't just temptation, it was pressure. Serious pressure. Pressure that in some ways we're unfamiliar with, but in other ways not so much. I said this just this past week in a daily devotional, but y'all don't make the foolish mistake of thinking that the Bible, even though it's thousands of years old, that it's not relevant, because this is a wonderful example of how relevant it is to you and me today. Because look around you. Think about the world that you're living in. Aren't you pressured to accept the things that the world accepts? Doesn't the world go on this constant campaign to deny what the Scriptures say instead, except what the world is telling you. Aren't you pressured to practice what the world calls tolerance, even though the world that we're living in, y'all hashtag tolerance, tolerance in our world isn't very tolerant, is it? You're fine as long as you do what they tell you to do, but if you step out Getting back to the world, doesn't it reject what God's word says? Doesn't it praise that which is evil and mock that which is good and pure? Y'all, again, the term used is tolerance. But don't be deceived. The world doesn't want tolerance. It's the same way in Thyatira 2,000 years ago. They didn't want tolerance. It wants you to conform to its agendas and its ideas. Conformity to it, not God's word. And what the world says to you is things like be kind, be accepting, be tolerant. But what they really want from you is to just consume. Consume, do not question. Why? because of the wickedness in the world and its bankrupt philosophies that don't ever do what they say, that's part of it, but y'all, you realize you're in a world full of slavery? As Cicero, Rome's poet and philosopher, lamented, right? Cicero very wisely said of the world around him, as he said of slaves, he said, slaves, they don't desire freedom. Slaves just desire to own other slaves. That's the world around you. It wants you to conform, and it dresses it up as all these different things. And when you look at what was going on in Thyatira, though we're not there yet, we might possibly be. That's what's going on in Thyatira 2,000 years ago with the tradesman's guild. Remember I said they had these major guilds there? Look, the fact of the matter was this. If you didn't conform to Roman society, if you didn't worship the gods that they worshiped, if you didn't make dolphins, if you didn't eat the meat sacrificed to idols like they did, then you were not permitted as a tradesman. And y'all, eventually, though it's not quite there yet, what would eventually come is, if you didn't step in line and do what they told you to do, you'd be arrested. You'd be executed. So put all these things together, and it's safe to say that Thyatira was not an easy place to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. And it's in light of those things that we need to think about what Jesus said here before he said, oh, it's a little harsh. With that in mind, consider what Jesus said to them and what's going on. He starts out in verse 18, right to the angel, I already talked about that. But look at what he calls himself, he names himself as the son of God and then he gets into this business about eyes like a fiery flame and feet that are like bronze. Now, what is he even talking about here? We go, cutting to the chase and being short with it. Realize that eyes burning like fire. One thing, and that is judgment. That's what Jesus is talking about here, that he is being or will be the judge. He is the judge, but he is coming to judge. Now, pause here just a second. Can you think of anything more antithetical to the world's philosophy and the world's idea of Jesus and the idea of Jesus being the judge? The idea of Jesus holding people to account? That's the exact opposite of what the world tells you about who Jesus is when it's not mocking him. But don't listen to them, listen to Jesus. He says that he has fiery eyes, eyes that are like a fire flame and feet that are like bronze, right, or like fine bronze. The reason that we say this is like judgment is because fire, that's kind of obvious, right? But the bronze thing, some people say, is that getting to Nebuchadnezzar's dream? No, no, no, no. This goes all the way back to the design of the tabernacle and later the temple. You know what, the pillars were made out of, that were covered with, And that's important because outside of the temple is where the judges would go to pass judgment. That's what Jesus is referencing here when he says he has feet like fine bronze. He says I'm coming and I'm coming with judgment. And this business of eyes ablaze with fire, it really goes back to this other thing that he says here in verse 19. He says I know your words. Y'all, the short of it is that Jesus sees. He knows what's going on there. He has watched them. And it's not all bad what he sees. Consider what he starts out with there. Then he sees their works, their love, their faithfulness, their service, their endurance. Then he says, I know that your last works are greater than the first. So in some ways, things are really moving along. In some ways, Thyatira is a picture of the church in the United States where you can see some really good things happening, right? People being helped, things that are going on in the church that didn't previously go on, and there's some really good stuff happening. But, though Jesus starts there and says, hey, I see these things, I know your works, these are good. He then moves on to the real issue. And y'all, the real issue is in verse 20. He says, but I have this against you. you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to Ida." Okay, let's be honest, right? This is heavy stuff. Let's ask some obvious questions, right? that he refers to as Jezebel. The fact is is that we don't know. We really don't have any more information about her. I'm gonna throw a little curveball here. The reality is Jezebel may not even be her real name. When Jesus uses the term Jezebel, it's possible, but this is in Asia, okay? She's probably not a Jew. She's probably a Gentile, so the idea that she would really be named Jezebel by her parents, if she was a Jew, that's a real problem, but if she's not, it's highly unlikely But this is a term that Jesus has given to her. Okay. Jezebel, who encouraged bringing back the Asherah bulls, who encouraged worship in the high places, which is a nice way of saying she encouraged child sacrifice and debauchery. That's what Jesus calls this woman that is being dealt with here in Thyatira, or in fact, is not being dealt with. She's caused major problems, and we gotta consider how she's doing it. Well, first off, she's going around, and she's calling herself a prophetess, and she's teaching. The first thing is the prophetess thing, but think about what she's teaching first before we deal with how. What she's teaching them is the philosophy of the world. It just so happens that what that philosophy is, is sexual immorality and meat sacrifice and idols, realize that those two things perfectly coincide with so much of what Roman worship was of Roman gods and goddesses. It's still an agrarian society, even though there's skilled workmen, but they had to grow crops, so they worshiped gods and goddesses of fertility, and the way that they did that was not good. It involved sexual immorality. She's encouraging them to do that. She's telling them to eat meat sacrificed to idols. In other words, she's telling them, look, why don't you just step into line with what's going on in the world around you? Sound familiar? It should, that's what we dealt with a couple weeks ago with Pergamum, didn't we? Pergamum was doing that. But does it sound familiar in terms of looking at the church around you in the United States these days? The church around you that tells you to ignore God's word, they wouldn't say it in so few words, they'd just simply dismiss it. And they do it under wonderful pretenses of being accepting and kind and tolerance and all of these different things, but y'all, this is the philosophy and the theology and the practices of hell. And she's the one that's out there calling herself a prophetess, and she's teaching it. This idea of eating meat sacrificed to idols, it wasn't just worship, it was this idea that you gain power from it. And sexual immorality, well, y'all, you need to realize this is ancient Rome. Had this talk with somebody this past week, we were talking about Jesus coming back, and they were of the persuasion that the world is just gonna continue to fall apart, and Jesus eventually has to come back. If you were here at the beginning of our series, You find the Lord of the harvest returning to a field of wheat. There are weeds, there are tares that have to be separated, but we find the Lord of the harvest. Nevertheless, I was having this talk with this individual, and I said, well, what makes you reason that? He said, well, look at what's going on in the world today. It has never been so nasty, so wicked, so terrible, all of this dysfunction of the people. And I said, really? You ever looked into ancient Rome? Y'all, I'm not saying that this is a clean place that we're living in in terms of sexual immorality and that kind of stuff. Certainly we have problems, but rewind 2,000 years, every perversion of sexuality was glorified and became a religious aspect of worship. Okay, and we're not just talking about homosexuality or infidelity, we're talking about the extremes of sexual impression, the highest level of sexual I'm not trying to make y'all blush, y'all. I'm just pointing out how ancient Rome really was. As wicked and terrible as our society is, y'all, ancient Rome, it crumbled from the inside out. It rotted from its own corruption and wickedness. And this woman that Jesus is calling Jezebel, whether that's her name or not doesn't matter. She's come in and she's teaching the church in Thyatira. That's the first problem. What she's teaching them is also a major problem, but the first begins with the fact that she's their teacher. I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, and I'm showing my hand, but what this all comes down to is the fact that there are major issues with her, not just as an individual, but with her and what she is doing. Again, she calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives my servants. That's what Jesus says about it. And y'all, this exposes two main issues. And this is the part that's controversial and the part that I wish I could skip over because both of them are controversial. But the reality is this prophecy has ceased. Number one and number two, men are to teach and preach. Let me explain again, because I know this is controversial. If you're going to leave, just wait until I'm done, but take the first. about God's Word is informed by God's Word. We go to God's Word to interpret God's Word. And you can find it all over the place. Deuteronomy 4-2, I like it. When it says, do not act on what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you. Y'all, it's this idea that God's Word is enough, that it is sufficient. If we were to fast forward in Revelation, not add to or take away from this scroll. In fact, Jesus promises destruction for anybody that does. But it's the very simple idea about prophecy, that if prophecy exists now, as it previously did before God turned and finished, well then that must mean that God is still revealing his word. And the reality is that God has revealed his word in all of its entirety. The Bible speaks of this in many places. Again, Hebrews 1, 1 and 2, it says, in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets, and many times in various ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, and through whom he also made the universe. Do you get what is being said here? That the old way of God using prophets and prophecy, it has come to an end. We have the entirety of God's word, and it's been said in so many ways. But y'all, if you wanna hear a prophecy, If you want to hear the voice of God, and this is not original to me, if you want to hear it, pick up his word and read it. Prophecy has ceased. And that's the first issue that's going on with this woman who calls herself Jezebel. And I just had to address it because, y'all, especially on the line of revelation, there's a lot of false teachers out there that claim to be prophets. We just had another one of these blood moons, right? I'm sure that Hagin in his sleep was saying, Israel, Israel, Israel. Because that's his thing, y'all. He's written books about it. And according to his books, the world, the rapture should have come, I don't know, decades ago, and it didn't. He's still got a typewriter or a word processor or a ghostwriter or something, but y'all, stay away from this stuff. You wanna know why people don't read the book of Revelation, Last Stairs into Death? Because they get into this prophecy stuff. And it's like an empty hole that you fall into and you never stop falling. But that's just part of the problem. And I know that's controversial. But something else is exposed here that's even more controversial, and it's that second thing that I said. And it's the fact that she's teaching there to begin with. Y'all, God's word is as clear as crystal on this subject. And I hope that this doesn't make you angry. If it does, then you're gonna need to take it up with Jesus because he's the one that spoke it and God is the one that breathed out his word and Jesus is the living word. But y'all, it's not mine, I just preach it. That's why you brought me here. There's lots of places that talk about this. 1 Timothy 2, 12 says, I don't permit a woman to teach or to usurp authority over a man. This is talking about the church and what goes on in the church. There are those that would twist us and say, oh, well, this is just Paul expressing his personal opinion. Well, how about we go back to what Jesus said in Revelation chapter two about Jezebel showing up and teaching in the church? This isn't just Paul's opinion, by the way. This is God breathing out his word. Peter said that Paul wrote scripture. The church understood that Paul wrote scripture. We should understand that too. You can also go to chapter three if you'd like even more evidence. First Corinthians 14, they all say, And it's not about quality of personhood. It's not about how women are inferior men, or men are better than women. Y'all, it's about the basic way that God has set up the world to work. And the reality is, is that nowhere in God's word will you find women teachers. Except for Revelation chapter two. And it ain't working too good. Okay? Because again, despite the clear teaching of scripture, we find this woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives by service. That's what we find. She's come along, she's called herself this, and she has been teaching, and what she's been teaching has been disastrous, and y'all, I know by default this makes me a chauvinist and someone who is not inclusive and all those sorts of things, but this is not about me and it's not about the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. This is about the living Word of God and what God commands. This is not about interpretation. This is not about culture. That's why, if you were to go on reading in 1 Timothy 2, you would see that this is not about what women were like 2,000 years ago, or what women are like now. This is about the created order. That's why, when given reason for this, God said, through the apostle Paul, for Adam was first formed and then Eve. This has nothing to do with quality of personhood. It has everything to do with God's design. And the reality is that Thyatira should have seen this coming a mile away. And when women showed up and started teaching the church, they should have said no. Because the reality is this, what applies to them applies to you and me. Don't listen to female preachers. It violates the clear teaching of God's word. And I'm not going to apologize for saying this because it isn't about my preferences. God's word is clear. Don't listen to female preachers. It's hard to think of something more inflammatory in today's world, but also, my friends, it's necessary to hang on to the truth of the Bible. Don't listen to female preachers, that's our lesson from Thyatira, and also don't listen to anyone claiming to be a prophet. I don't care how popular they are. I don't care how many books they've written. God's word is closed, and if they come to you and claim to be a prophet, they're liars and false teachers. Do you understand me? It's interesting that the modern-day prophets who come bringing prophecy in their own, part of me wants to be catty and say, you know what, I don't mind somebody claiming to be a prophet as long as we apply the Old Testament principles to prophecy. You know, in the Old Testament, there were really two major rules, that if you showed up and called yourself a prophet, fine, but if you're wrong, we get to execute you, and oh yeah, if you ask for money, we get to execute you as well. How many modern prophets do you think there would be if we abided by that principle? We must learn from Thyatira. And we must learn from Thyatira because of the principle that's pointed to here. This is the next thing on your paper. I've said this before, but let's say that you're visiting and you never come back again, or you're a regular, and you didn't know this was the position of this church, or me, though if you watch devotional, you should. But let's say, oh, he's a chauvinist, and I'm never coming back here again. That is your choice. But you know, I've said this to you for seven and a half years, I've said it through 22 years of ministry, I'm gonna say it again now. If you leave and you never come back, you'll remember one thing, remember this. If I get hit by a bus this afternoon, Chuck of ice falls off an airplane wing and kills me, or I choke on the taco soup or whatever. If you only remember one thing that I've said, remember this. God never, God never condones what his word forbids. That applies across the board, including to prophecy and to female preachers. And because God never condones what his word forbids, look at verse 21 and follow me again. Remember, y'all, Jesus doesn't play around. He said, I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. Look, I will throw her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction, unless they repent of her works. So you see, Jesus still gets a chance. But verse 23, I will strike her children dead, then all the churches. that I am the one who examines minds and hearts and I will give to each of you according to your own works. Y'all, this isn't imagery. Jesus means what he says and says what he means here. This isn't just an idea of death. He says I'm coming to execute those who have maintained her teaching and your church along with it. And y'all, there's a reason I'm gonna show my pictures of ancient Thyatira, and what they thought was the church there, it's now ruins. Heed the warning of Christ. This is the angriest we ever see Jesus get right here, and he's angry for a reason, but thankfully, in equal proportion to his furious warning, he comes with his call to repentance and endures it. Look at verse 24 and following. He says, I say to the rest of you, Thyra, who do not hold to this teaching, who haven't known the so-called secrets of Satan, now pause it for a second. We don't know exactly what this means. This probably had to do with some of the terminology that Jezebel was using. It probably had something to do with a cult that had developed around her. We just don't know. But despite this, Jesus said, I'm not putting any other burden on you. Only told all. Hold on for what you have until I come. Y'all, Jesus calls those who are wrapped up in this sin to repent. But for those who aren't, he tells them, hold on because I'm coming. And y'all, 2,000 years later, the message is still the same for you and me. Look, I said it last week when I served communion, I'll say it again now, this is the last thing on your paper. None of us can be perfect on our own. If we could, Jesus would have never come. He would have just been called to try harder. All of us are sinners, some of us are saved by grace, but if you're wrapped up in something you know you shouldn't be, cry out to God and ask him to save you and he will. That's the promise of Revelation 2. to help you resist temptation, and then resist temptation, and you've been given power to do this, not because of you, but because of what we find in 1 John 4, where we're told, little children, you're from God, and you have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. This is talking about the Holy Spirit who has taken up residence in you to help you. The beauty of knowing Christ is that He understands us, and by His Spirit, He ministers to us, so if you're caught in a trap, if there's a great failing on your part, if you are avoiding Jesus, then repent and turn to Him. But let's say you're not, because Revelation 2 speaks to both. Hang on to Jesus, hold on to what you've got. That's what Jesus says. I remember being a kid, when I go down to my grandfather's, inevitably, I would end up in the river working on a boat or something like that. And I remember being thrown a line and he was pulling on something. I couldn't see anything. I'm just thinking, I hope I don't get smashed. And I remember him saying, hold on to what you got. Wasn't about my ability to hold on or anything like that. It was about me trusting that he knew what he was doing and that he was gonna show up. Y'all, that's what Jesus says to you here. In this world of ours that mocks, in this world of ours that is so confused, hang on to Jesus and take heart. As he ended so alive, the one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end, I will give him authority over the nations and he will rule them with an iron scepter. He will shatter them like pottery. Just as I received this from my father, I will also give him the morning star. Listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Y'all, what this is referencing is Philippians 2. The day is coming. And at that time, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, heaven on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But you'll notice what it says there. This is not about what's just gonna happen when he comes back. It says every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. That means a time is coming when even the people in hell will bow and acknowledge Christ and the sorrow and the sadness is that it will be too late. If you do not know him, turn to him today. You don't have to talk to me, but if you want to, we will talk, and it's the most important thing ever. But if you do, hang on. Trust in his word, not the philosophy of the world. Trust in his word and receive his blessings. Let's pray. Our Father, we praise you for your word, that we don't have to rely on ourselves, that we don't have to figure everything out instead. We need to trust you. Father, in this world of ours that would say your word is hateful, and I'm sure in many places I would be considered guilty of hate speech right now. And yet it's your words, not mine. Father, let us hold on to your word as we hang on to you in this wicked world of ours. And if any do not know you, get hold of them now, Father. And I pray it in Christ's name, amen. Let's now close our time together. We've sung about, or we've just read about Jesus coming with judgment, being the king. So let's close together by singing hymn number 332, lead on, O King. Please stand and breathe with me. Oh, dear. See you in a bit. When I prayed in preparation for this sermon, one of the things that I prayed was that I would not get in the way of the clear teaching of God's word. If anything that I said is too controversial or seems too harsh or too difficult, before you go, I don't mean today, and we are to be captive to it. Rest in his favor. Receive now the benediction. May the grace and the peace and the love and the fellowship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit be upon you both now and forevermore. Amen.