Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter two. Revelation chapter two. We'll begin our reading at verse 18. Hear the word of God. And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, these things says the son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allowed that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your works. 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, but hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. And 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Thus ends the reading of God's holy word. As we return this morning to our study, we return to the church in Thyatira. Let me remind us that these things says the Son of God, in verse 18, who is omniscient and omnipotent. He comes with words of genuine commendation. This is no flattery that he speaks to this church. The believers in this blue-collar city were abounding in love, in service, in faith, and patience. Yet the Lord needed to bring a severe word of condemnation because they had allowed their love to overshadow their discernment. The self-proclaimed prophetess, who our Lord refers to as Jezebel, has been permitted to teach, as we see in verse 20, and to seduce Christ's servants, to commit acts of immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. This is a more subtle form of persecution. If our ancient foe can't stop the progress of the gospel by harsh means from without, such as being ripped apart by wild beast like some saints were in that day, or bound to a stake that's been engulfed by flames, as we read of the martyrdom of Polycarp earlier in our studies, The devil will do this. The enemy of our souls, that great ancient foe, will move his tactics to be focused on, not from the out, but from within. Like encouraging friendship with the world and accepting its views and practices. So the word of God warns us Do not love the world or the things in the world, for if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. I beseech you, therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies living sacrifices, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12, one and two. Adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4, four. The enemy has a subtle way of coming to those saints. His efforts were not as successful as he desired when he attacked the saints from without with physical persecution. The enemy saw that his church only grew as the martyrs stood firm in their faith and did not deny Christ's name. So he has this other tactic by coming within and causing those who named the name of Christ and the Church of Christ to compromise their lives, to compromise their profession, to make themselves friends, I say, of the world. Teachers are planted. Those who come as angels of light are actually the emissaries of the evil one. This woman in the church in Thyatira was much like the Jezebel in 1 Kings. It was bad enough for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam. You know, Jeroboam built two golden calves, one in Bethel and the other in Dan. The children of Israel were commanded or charged to come and offer sacrifices to these idols. Jeroboam said, these are the gods that brought you out of the land of Egypt. It wasn't bad enough for Ahab to follow in Jeroboam's footsteps. He married the daughter of Ethbaal, as some pronounce it, the king of the Sidonians. The result of this alliance was the institution of a new of the institution of his new wife's gods. She brought her gods along with her. And when he went and served Baal and worshiped him, it says in 1 Kings, then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. This was because of the seductive influences of his wife, Jezebel, who massacred the prophets of God, hoping to eliminate the worship of Jehovah, the true and living God. The teaching here is virtually identical to the false teaching of Balaam, the Balaam party and the Nicolaitans in Pergamos, as we read of in verse 14 and 15, the second chapter of the Revelation. Last week I said she seduced the Lord's servants. We talked a little bit about what seducing looks like, or seduction looks like. And that was a reading from the New King James Version of the Bible. However, if you're reading the New American Standard Bible, you'll find these words. And she teaches and leads my bondservants astray. That phrase leads my servants astray, carries the idea of to cause to wander. We sing a hymn in this place, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. We find in it, this word describes much of what is going on through the teaching of this Jezebel. We find this word used in other places in the New Testament, like in Matthew chapter 18. And we read there in verse 12, what do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has, here's our word, gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and go and search for the one that is, here's our word again, straying? If he turns out that he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the 99 which have not, here's our word again, gone astray. Our Lord is concerned about sheep that wander, those who have left the boundaries of safety. So he goes after those who are in danger. And this teaching of Jezebel in this church was causing the servants of God to go astray, to depart that realm of safety. In Matthew 24, we find these words, And Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one Here's our word again, misleads you. It's the same Greek word used here, translated misleads. For many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ and will, here's our word again, mislead many. Verse 11, many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Verse 23, then if anyone says to you, behold, here is the Christ, or there he is, do not believe them. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. The new King James says, take heed. It's a warning that no one deceives you. Here the same word is used to describe being misled by deception. This should remind us of the serpent's tactic used on our mother Eve in Genesis chapter 3. The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. If we read the opening verses of Genesis 3, we'll see that she was led astray, misled, seduced, and deceived because she was drawn away and tempted to doubt the clear word of God. Anytime we are drawn away from what God has said, we are in danger. We are in danger of going astray or being seduced. I hope that we've benefited and appreciated the studies that we are embarking on here in this place on the Ten Commandments. I hope as you read the Scriptures you identify those commandments as we were challenged in previous Lord's Days to identify the commandments as we read them in the Scripture. I hope when you read this passage of Scripture that we read this morning that you will recognize and identify that this teaching of this Jezebel was a violation of the seventh commandment, the first commandment, and the second commandment. The hymn that we're learning says the law of God is good and wise and sets his will before our eyes. It shows us the way of righteousness. It shows what deeds are his delight and should be done as good and right. To know what God requires of us, to be an obedient student of the word is a safeguard against being led astray by false teaching. I've said it in the past, but how many good Baptists have been turned into pretzels by the Jehovah Witness that come to their door because they don't know their Bibles? How many Christians are embarrassed by the young Mormon fellows that come to their door because they've not given attention to the word of God? There are a lot of Baptists in the kingdom hall. because they don't know their Bibles. And we must give ourselves to the diligent study of the Word of God that we would not be led astray. I say, brethren, it is a safeguard against being led astray. But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, James 1.22. So as you hear the Word of God, it is incumbent upon us to do the Word of God. to obey the Word of God, you don't have to become a seminary student to study the Word of God. You can sit here and engage in expository listening right here at Grace Fellowship Church. Isn't that a blessing? Amen. You take God's Word, listen, and if you miss something, there are some of us who take notes, some of us don't take notes. But we have the blessed privilege in our day and age to go home and turn on sermon audio. And our brothers have uploaded the sermons. And you can sit there with your tablet and your pencil, and you can listen to the sermon again. And if you miss what Pastor Greg said, you can stop him. You can't do that here. But you can stop him, and you can make him repeat what he said. And if you're still missing, you can go back again. What a blessing. It might take you a little while to get through, but if you give ourselves to the means that God has given us, to all the technology that God has blessed us with, to take in the word of God, we will safeguard ourselves against folks like this Jezebel. Thomas Watson said this, you must give an account for every sermon you hear. The judge to whom we must give an account is God. How should we observe every word preached, remembering the account? Let all this make us shake off distraction and drowsiness in hearing, and have our ears chained to the word. May that be our desire. May we hunger and thirst after righteousness. The members of this church needed to stand against the temptation to compromise and conform to the immoral practices of the prosperous trade guilds, even if it cost them economic loss. This type of pagan involvement is characterized by the harlotry and the unfaithfulness of God's ancient people. And it brought severe punishment upon them. And eating of meat, sacrifice to idols, was no mere exercise of Christian liberty, as we read of in 1 Corinthians chapter 8. The apostle talks about this eating of meat to idols, and there were in those times the The temples of false gods and they would take the meat and they would divide it up and a portion would be sacrificed and a portion would be served there and eaten in the temple. Perhaps those portions that were not consumed were sent to the marketplace. And Christians had the liberty to go. People had the, not just Christians, but all the folks had the opportunity to go to the market. and buy reduced price cuts of beef, pork chops, and steaks, and ribs. And I'm not trying to make you hungry. We got another hour to go. But they were wrestling with this in their society, they were wrestling with whether they should buy that reduced steak or not in the marketplace. They had to decide whether they would participate in the trade guild's sacrificing of that meat of Zeus or Apollo before it went to the market. You see, the meat that was sent to the market had already been sacrificed to idols and people came and they bought the meats. What's happening here in Thyatira was that they were charged or commissioned or expected to enjoy or to participate in these pagan feasts. These trade guilds had their tutelary deities, their patron gods that they worshiped and they offered sacrifices in those feasts and in those meetings. And to keep your job, and to provide for your family, you had to participate in these feasts. They were faced with serious questions. How shall we move forward? We're faced with all kinds of questions that we must wrestle with in our day. Some of us may have Relatives or loved ones who decide they want to marry someone of the same sex and they want you to come to the wedding. What would you do? What would you do? Some of you have employers who ask you to do things that are unethical. If you want to keep your job, if you want a promotion, what will you do? These are not abstract questions that don't affect where we live. They're all kinds of questions that come to the believer in a fallen world and we must grapple with these things. We must take God's word and the principles of God's word and make our stand. Come what may, we must be like those Hebrew boys who said, we don't serve your God and we will not bow. Our God is able, we know that. But if he chooses not to, in his sovereign will, if he chooses not to deliver us from your hand, O King, we want you to know he's able, but we will not bow. Are we willing to go and to suffer because of our principles and because of what we believe? Or are we listening to these Jezebels on the radio who tell us, eh, we can compromise? Maybe this Jezebel tried to quiet their consciences by saying, we know that an idol is nothing in the world and that there is no other God but one. He understands the pressures you're under to provide for your family. Or maybe this was some incipient Gnosticism. that Gnosticism is, the Gnostics had this idea of being lofty and thinking they had knowledge and all this grand insight. They thought of themselves as a big deal spiritually. Gnostics also have the thinking that the body, they have a thing about the body. Gnostics say that the spirit is good, and matter, including the physical body, is evil. So if you held to that kind of belief on scriptural teaching, You could say, so it doesn't matter if you indulge your flesh with the temple prostitutes. The body's evil. All God's concerned about is your spirit. So, you know, God's gonna forgive you. It doesn't matter if you go into the prostitutes. And so, this Jezebel is teaching God's people to commit sexual immorality and to eat things offered to idols. Perhaps he taught some form of syncretism, Christ and Apollo. People like to mix religions these days, and you've seen the bumper stickers that tell us that we can coexist. How can we coexist with evil? Maybe all the other, maybe all the evil religions can get together and have some camaraderie, but there is no fellowship with darkness and the children of God. Maybe she said, Jehovah and Zeus, we can worship both of them. You can do this on your day and worship this one on the other day. One commentator said, Christ was pleased neither with this woman's teachings nor with the fact that the church tolerated her. The Lord said to her what he said to the previous churches. He said it to Ephesus. In verse 5 of chapter 2, repent. He said it to Pergamos. Verse 16, repent. Turn. Turn around. Or else. Or else. Have you all ever heard that, or else, before? I did growing up. Clean your room. and have your chores done before I get home from work, or else. And we knew what that or else meant. And it wasn't a pleasant or else. And nor is this or else of our Lord a pleasant or else because he brings these sobering and stern warnings to these whom he is talking to. Verse 21 is sobering. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality. and she did not repent. I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality and she did not repent. The New American Standard says, I gave her time to repent and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Her will is involved, it's not like, she doesn't want to give up her sin. Warnings come to us throughout all the scriptures, but men will not turn at the warnings that come from the Word of God. That preacher, that deacon, Stephen, recounted the stiff-neckedness of his people. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute, he says. They killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers. I gave her time. God is gracious and offers mercy. Remember that. Whatever you want to think about God, always remember he is merciful and long-suffering. He's gracious. He gave her time. God is sovereign, and man is yet still responsible. Perhaps the most well-known blessings of mercy is found in John chapter 3. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He who believes in him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world. And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who practices evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Christ came into the world, not to condemn the world. The world's already condemned. Why? Because they've not believed on the only begotten Son of God. The light has come, warnings have gone out, the gospel message has gone out, and men don't heed, men don't come, men don't believe. Why? The Bible says because their deeds are evil. It's because they love darkness rather than the light. John the Baptist preached And he was bold in his preaching. We read of John the Baptist just a while ago in Matthew 11, that great prophet. He was not ashamed of the word of God. He was not ashamed to warn those who were walked in sin. And he told those who were coming to his baptism how they ought to turn and how their actions ought to be different if they come to this Messiah whom he was the forerunner of. He called him to repentance. He looked at Herod and said, it is not lawful for you to have her. He's talking to the king. He's talking to a man who can take his head off. And it actually happened. But he was fearless because he served the most high God. Sometimes, brethren, we'll have to stand and speak the truth. Speaking the truth in love will still cause us to be persecuted in time. Verse 22 says, Indeed, I will cast her into a sick bed. And those who commit adultery with her enter great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. The punishment fits the crime. She who profaned the bed of love is pinned to the bed of sickness. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life. Galatians 6, 7 and 8. It's interesting how God meets out crimes, meets out the punishment to fit the crime. It's interesting how people go and they commit certain sin, and they think God doesn't see. They don't believe God is really omniscient. They don't really believe that he is all-powerful. And he comes with this judgment on this one, which is so close to the sins that she had committed. I remember I had an accident back in 07. You didn't think I could remember that far back, did you? I was sitting at a traffic light, And a young man came from behind. I glimpsed, I looked up into the rearview mirror. It was too late. And he rammed my vehicle, and I hit the lady in front of me, and she hit the car in front of her. Thankfully, no one was injured. The cars were totaled, but no one was injured. We thank God that no one was injured. Turns out the young man was a Christian. He just wasn't looking where he was going. And I went to work the next day. My co-workers had gone by. They were leaving, going home as well, and they saw my car all banged up. And I came to work, and they said, what are you doing here? Coming to work. Weren't you in an accident yesterday? Yeah, I was in an accident yesterday. Man, if I was you, I'd have a cast from here to my toes. But I'm not hurt. You think I wanna tempt God to give me something worse than what you're talking about? And it's interesting how sometimes people do things and they think God's not watching and God's not seeing, and the punishment is a reminder of the sins that they've committed. And he brings judgment upon them. Do not be deceived, brethren. God does not mock. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. He said, I will kill her children with pestilence, her followers. It's a reminder, when you think back of Jezebel and how Ahab and Jezebel's sons were murdered by Jehu. God's gonna mete out judgment, and he's gonna deal with sin. He's gonna punish sinners, and if you're his child, he will chase in you. whom the Lord loves, he chastens. He's gonna deal with sin in unbelievers and in believers. And he's gonna cause us to walk back in the ways of righteousness by bringing sometimes stiff punishment, stiff chastening, chastisement upon us if we do not repent and turn around. God is merciful. and we must respond to his overtures of mercy. And we don't know how long or how short the time of mercy is. He said, I gave her time to repent. I gave her time to repent, and she would not. Does she have some kind of insight into the longevity of God's mercy? No. She continued on in her sin because she loved her sin and she loved the darkness. But God is the one who determines how long mercy will last. Listen, loved ones, don't think you have a lot of time to spurn the gospel and to close your ears to the overtures of Christ in the gospel. God controls that time. So we read these words from the Apostle Paul, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. All things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. All things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ. and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors of Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, for he made him who knew no sin. to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Today, if you will hear my voice, Scripture says, do not harden your heart, Hebrews 4, 7. I couldn't help but to get stuck here on this word. I gave her time to repent. But she did not repent. She would not repent. Are there some of you here today who have not repented, who have not believed on Christ? We plead with you. We beseech you. We beg you to be reconciled to God. Consider that there are some here who have not believed. Everyone in here is not a Christian. It doesn't matter if you're nice. It doesn't matter if your parents are Christians. The question is, have you believed on Christ? Have you trusted in Christ for yourself? Because in that day of judgment, you will stand before God all by yourself to give an account of your life. There are some here, you know who you are. who have not trusted Christ, I gave them time to repent. We pray to God that it would never be said of you in that day, you would not repent. Let me urge you to give your life to Christ, to plead with God for mercy. Let me read an urgent plea from the past and a sobering word in light of the sure coming of the judge of all the earth. So I go back again to John Owen. There's a plea he makes here to those who are lost. And he says before the police, he says, This I shall only say, that in the declaration and preaching of them, Jesus Christ yet stands before sinners, calling, inviting, encouraging them to come unto him. This is somewhat of the word which he now speaks to you. If you've not come to Christ, if you've not trusted Christ, if you've allowed all the things in the world to get your attention and draw you away from the things that matter most and not be concerned about your never-dying soul, listen to John Owen. He says, why will you die? Why will you perish? Why will you not have compassion on your own souls? Can your hearts endure, or can your hands be strong in the day of wrath that is approaching? Is it but a little while before all your hopes, your reliefs, and presumptions will forsake you and leave you eternally miserable? Look unto me and be saved. Come unto me, and I will ease you of all sins, sorrows, fears, burdens, and give rest to your souls. Come, I entreat you. Lay aside all procrastinations, all delays. Put me off no more. Eternity lies at the door. Cast out all cursed, self-deceiving reserves. Do not so hate me as that you will rather perish than accept. of deliverance by me. Savior's souls come to Christ. Come to Christ. I gave their time to repent. I gave her time to repent and she would not. This hymn, it reminds me of this hymn. Speaking of the coming judgment of God, Great God, what do I see and hear? The end of things created. The judge of mankind doth appear on clouds of glory seated. The trumpet sounds, the graves restore, the dead which they contained before. Prepare my soul to meet him. The dead in Christ shall first arise at the last trumpet sounding. caught up to meet him in the skies with joy their Lord surrounding. No gloomy fears their souls dismay. His presence sheds eternal day on those prepared to meet him. But sinners filled with guilty fears behold his wrath prevailing for they shall rise and find their tears and sighs are unavailing. The day of grace is past and gone. Trembling, they stand before the throne, all unprepared to meet him. Great God, what do I see and hear? The end of things created. The judge of mankind doth appear on clouds of glory seated. Beneath his cross, I view the day. when heaven and earth shall pass away and thus prepare to meet Him. Beloved, the only way we'll be prepared to meet Christ is that we've come prostrate before or under the cross of Christ and allowed that blood, that fountain filled with blood to wash our sins away and to trust Him for our salvation. There's coming a day, beloved, when our Savior shall return. And I pray that all of us in this room will be prepared to meet him because he gives us time to repent, hear the gospel message, and come to Christ before it's too late. Amen. Let's pray. Our Lord, we echo the words of the hymn writer who said, why was I made to hear your voice and enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than come? And Father, we confess that we would have starved and we would have not come had you not drawn us to yourself, had you not loved us with an everlasting love and with loving kindness drawn us to our great Savior. And Father, we pray that you would do that even today for many more in this room. Oh Lord, we pray that we would all be found in that day, having trusted in the finished work of our great Savior. And we shall be careful to give him all the praise and all the glory in this life and in the life to come. For it's in his name we pray.