Let's take our Bibles and turn
back to Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2. I'd like to just pick up where
we left off from the last service. The Lord still speaking to the
church at Thyatira, but not just the church at Thyatira. These
letters were written to all the churches Not only just the seven
churches in Asia, but all the churches in every age. This is
a letter to the church, Katie. This letter is to Katie Baptist
Church. Every church where the Lord has raised up the glorious
gospel of God's free grace. And the Lord says, dictating
through the Apostle John, notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself
a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit
fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I
gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented
not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent
of their deeds. And I will kill her children
with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He which
searcheth the reins, the mind, and hearts. And I will give unto
every one of you according to your works. But unto you, I say,
and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine,
and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden, but that which you have
already. Hold fast till I come. And he
that overcometh and keepeth my works, unto the end, to him will
I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron as the vessels of a potter, shall they be broken
to shivers, even as I received of my Father. And I will give
him the morning star, he that hath an ear, let him hear what
the Spirit saith unto the churches." The Lord now reveals something
after he commended him. He said, I know your works, I
know your love, your service, I know your patience. And now
he's going to deal with something that he saw in the midst. And this is, as the case was,
the church at Ephesus. When he told him, he said, you've
left your first love. These are things that we cannot
often, most times not, see ourselves. We don't know. We don't know. We come here together. We want
to worship together. We want to be truthful. And there's
things that we don't often see. But when God brings them out,
were made vitally aware of a problem. He said, notwithstanding, verse
20, 21, notwithstanding, he said, I got a few things against you
or concerning you. Because thou sufferest, you allow. You permit. You're permitting
something. that I'm aware of." He said,
I'm going to bring it out to you. "...got somewhat against
thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth
herself a prophetess, to teach, to seduce my servants, to commit
fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I
gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented
not." whether this was an actual woman
named Jezebel or whether it was a type of one who attempts to spread
the soul damning doctrine of spiritual fornication and unfaithfulness
to God and to his word, we're not sure. Some writer says it
was a woman, some of them said they were letting a woman teach
and preach and that may have been, that may have been so.
I'm not saying it wasn't so, it could have been. I know this
and you know this. It's not permitted. I suffer
not, Paul said, a woman to teach nor to usurp the authority over
a man. A pulpit is no place for a woman. God said that. Therefore, if
it was an actual woman or whether it was a woman in spirit. Jezebel, you know who Jezebel
was. She was that evil woman that
was married to Ahab and she hated Elijah. Elijah called for the
400 prophets of Baal. And Jezebel was one that worshipped
Baal. As we said before, Baal is not
actually a particular god. It's just a false god. Bala means many false gods. So when we say she worshipped
Baal, she worshipped one other than the sovereign god of these
scriptures, God Almighty. This Jezebel or this spirit,
what he was saying is, the Lord said, you sufferers. What he was setting forth, I
truly believe, the spirit of that passage right there, is
that they weren't forthright speaking against false religion. They weren't forthright about
it. You're allowing it. You don't stand against it. It's spiritual fornication. When Almighty God sets forth
that God alone, that God chooses a people, that Almighty God,
Ephesians 1, just read Ephesians 1. What does Ephesians 1 say? That Almighty God has chosen
us in Christ. Does God have an elect? Yes. When did He elect them? Before
the foundation of the world. What is 2 Thessalonians 2.13? But we are bound to give thanks
for you, for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Did God choose a people
from before the foundation of the world that He was going to
save? Yes. Did the Lord Jesus Christ lay
down His life only for the elect? Yes. How do you know? John 10,
15 says, I lay down my life for the sheep. Then He turned to
some Pharisees and He said, you don't believe Me because you're
not My sheep. He said, My sheep hear My voice.
So does God have an elect? Yes. Did He choose them before
the foundation of the world? Yes. Did Christ die for those
elect? Yes! God said He did. God said He did. Are they going
to be saved? John 6, 37. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. They shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Who's coming to
Christ? All that the Father gave Him.
Who did Christ pray for? We'd look at this, John 17, 9.
I pray not for the world, but I pray for those that you've
given me out of the world. Does Christ pray for everybody?
No. No. Now that's what the scripture
says concerning the God that we serve. And we serve Him because
this is how He has revealed Himself to be. This is what God said. Now let me tell you what the
spirit of Jezebel is. Everything that refutes that. Everything that refutes it. That
is spiritual fornication. That's unfaithfulness to Him
who deserves all respect, all honor, all obedience. It is my
responsibility to obey God. God must give me a heart to do
so. I must believe God. He's got to give me faith to
believe. He said, I've got something against you. You're allowing that woman, Jezebel,
that calls herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants,
trying to get them to commit fornication, spiritual fornication,
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. I gave her space
to repent of her fornication, and she didn't. She didn't. I've
told you before that Satan, the great dragon, all false religion,
All man-centered, self-righteous, free will, doctrine, religion. That is the meat and the drink
of all that is rebellious before God. We cannot fail. I cannot fail to be truthful
and to stand and proclaim that which is not right. I tell you
what's right, I tell you what's not right. Did God Almighty set
forth in these scriptures? If you've got a Bible, read what
it has to say. What does the scriptures say
concerning spiritual fornication? God Almighty is going to deal
with it. I'm going to deal with that in just a second. God's preachers
preach and set forth that God Almighty rules in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and nobody Nobody
stops him. Nobody stays his hand. Read the accounts that Paul the
Apostle, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, all those scriptures
that I accept out of John. The Apostle Paul wrote that.
And he said in Galatians chapter 1, does it matter? Does it matter that you hear
the gospel? Yeah. Yeah. What happens if you
don't? Romans 1, 16, and 17 says this
concerning the gospel of God's free, sovereign, electing, predestinating
grace. This is what Scripture says.
Paul said, Romans 1, 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. If
I don't tell you the truth, I'm ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith. It is written, the just
shall live by faith. What about those that don't preach
it? What about those that don't preach it? Galatians 1.8 Paul
says, For though we are an angel from heaven preach any other
gospel unto you than that which we've preached unto you, let
him be accursed. I don't want to stand before
God and not be found faithful. I must be. I must be. The Lord says you've got this
Jezebel, this spirit of spiritual rebellion, fornication, spiritual
unfaithfulness. That's what it is, unfaithfulness.
And the end of all that proclaim These works that I've done, I've
done something, I did something to merit my salvation. This is
what's going to happen. I quoted this a while ago, I'm
going to read it now, Matthew 7, 22. Many will say to me in
that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, cast out devils
in your name, done many wonderful works in your name, Then will
I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me ye that
work iniquity. I don't have any good works to
offer to the Lord that were born from this man. I don't have any. The Lord told me I didn't. I
may think I do from my old man, but I don't. I don't. I want to ask you this, back
in Revelation 2. He said, you're allowing that
woman Jezebel, calls herself a prophetess, to teach, to seduce. I gave her space to repent. I
know this. I know that everybody in the
world can't be telling the truth. Because there's too many inconsistencies. The scripture is specific on
the discovery of a false prophet, a Jezebel. I want you to turn
to 1 John 4. This is where I was a while ago
when I said I'm going to deal with this. 1 John, just a few
pages back. 1 John 4. 1 John 4, verses 1 to 3. Now here the apostle John, under the inspiration of
God's Spirit, says, Beloved, believe not every spirit. A spirit is a preacher. A preacher. Believe not every spirit. Don't arbitrarily believe a man
just because he says he's a preacher. If you want me to be honest with
you, by and large, Here I used to tell people when I was in
art school the three strangest groups of people that I know. The three strangest groups of
people that I know. Artists, drama students, and
musicians. And you know why? Sorry Sarah. But they all march to the beat
of a different drum. They're all just different. I say that because I'm one. Artists, drama students, and
musicians, they're just different. Being a preacher, I can tell
you this. The group that I am most wary
of, leery of, people that call themselves preachers. I'm most
wary. And here's the reason, here's
the reason. I'm just trying to be honest
with you. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because, because
many false prophets are going out into the world. Be wary. Be wary. When somebody tells
you that he's a preacher, my first impression, lest I know
you, lest I know you, when I find out somebody's a preacher, this
is my thought. Honestly, you're guilty until
proven innocent. And the reason is because of
that scripture right there. Right there. Beloved, believe
not every spirit. Try them. Try the spirits. Try the preachers. Try those
that are saying that they're preachers, whether they are of
God. How? How do you try them? By
the Word of God. By God's Word. What does God
have to say? What does the Lord have to say?
Hereby, verse 2, hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.
Some might say, well, boy, that was an easy one. Man, that was
simple. Because I don't know of anybody
that doesn't agree that Jesus Christ come in the flesh. I believe that he was born in
Bethlehem, and I believe, but until they realized what was
being said. Hereby know we the Spirit of
God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus the Christ. And once we know who Jesus the
Christ is come, Just two or three things. Number one, to say that
Jesus Christ has come means that He was before. He's come. That
He is the eternal God. He's come. Jesus Christ. When you see the title Christ,
what that means is the union of two natures. Divinity and
humanity. That's what Christ, when we say
Christ, That's right, Brad, it's Christ, God-man, Jesus Christ,
the Messiah, the Anointed One. Now this is what the Scripture
sets forth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, God's report of
Him. According, and David said, this
is all my hope, this is all my salvation, that He made with
me an everlasting covenant. Ordered, 2 Samuel, ordered in
all things, ensured. This is what Jesus Christ come
in the flesh means. That means that before the foundation
of the world in that everlasting covenant of grace, according
to the scriptures, I mentioned a while ago, God the Father,
Father, Son, Spirit, God the Father chose a people. that he was going to save, chose
a bride, and gave it to the son, the bridegroom. How long has
the Lord been betrothed? How long has He given Himself
to His bride? He always has. Always has. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. eternally betrothed himself. God the Father gave a bride to
the Son. And whenever the scripture says
in Genesis, and God said it's not good that the man should
be alone, He wasn't primarily speaking of Adam. He was, but
not primarily. God gave the Lord Jesus Christ
a bride. It was not good that the man,
Christ Jesus, should be alone. I'm telling you, God Almighty
has determined that His Son has a bride. And the Father chose
the bride. And the Son, who in that everlasting
covenant of grace, everlastingly stood as the surety, I'll answer
for her. Chosen in Him. Everything that
God Almighty is going to do for those elect, He's going to do
it in Christ. And He's going to answer. She
must be holy. He has chosen us, Ephesians 1-4,
chosen us in Him that we should be holy and without blame. No sin to answer for and robed
in absolute righteousness, purity, no spot, no wrinkle. And Christ
everlastingly stood for her and said, I'll answer before she
ever fell. He said, I'll answer. I'll answer. She's going to. That lamb that
was slain from the foundation of the world. The Lord Jesus
Christ said in that everlasting covenant of grace, I'll answer. I'll redeem her. I'll robe her
in my obedience. And I'll present her spotless,
pure, chaste bride. No infidelity in her. No rebellion
in her. No unfaithfulness in her. And
then the Spirit of God, the quickening God, that moves and blows like
the wind, and calls everyone that the Father has given the
Son, and the Son redeemed by the shedding of His precious
blood. The Spirit of God is going to call them out in the day of
God's power, God's choosing. When He pleased God, that's what
Paul said. who separated me from my mother's womb, called me by
His grace. And when He calls, they come,
irresistibly. That's what Christ said, John
6, 37, I quoted that a while ago. All that the Father giveth
me, so obviously the Father gave Him a people. I lay down my life
for her. And they shall come, the Spirit
of God calls them and seals them. And that seal, that mark, that
stamp, you know that wax you seal and they take it and stamp.
There's the seal right there. That's God's. You're mine. I
called you. I set you apart. I called you
mine. And the Spirit of God calls them
out of darkness. And they come to Him and He keeps
them and they're kept by the power of God through faith. Ready
to be revealed in that last time. That's the Christ. That's the
Christ I'm talking about. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false
prophets going out in the world. Hereby, know ye the Spirit of
God. Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ, the one I just told you about, is come into
flesh, is of God. You preach of Jesus that's trying
to save everybody? One that shed His blood just
arbitrarily and some people accept it and some don't. That's not
the Lord Jesus Christ that's come in the flesh. He said of Himself, I lay down
my life for the sheep. I'm going to have them. They're
mine. My Father gave them to me. I betrothed myself to you. I'm going to make you what I
said I'm going to make you. Holy, without blame. This is
the Christ that has come. Every spirit that confesseth
that is of God. And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ has come in flesh is not of God. This
is that spirit of antichrist whereby you've heard that should
come and even now is already in the world. It's not that a
man is anti-morality or anti-religion or anti-good works. He's anti-Christ. When we speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ come in the flesh, this is what we're talking about.
I'm talking about God Almighty, the Sovereign that calls the
shots. Not man, God. God does. We're back in Revelation
2, verse 22. And this is what the Lord says,
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, not a bed of ease, but
a bed of judgment. And them that commit adultery
with her, those that believe her. And them that commit adultery with
her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds, and
I will kill her children with death. All the churches shall
know that I am He which searcheth the reins, the mind, the heart,
and I will give unto every one of you according to your works."
There's one end to false religion. There's one end and this is what
it is. It's death. I don't want to be found believing
a lie. I don't. I am a frail creature. I'm a creature of the dust. I
need God to have mercy on me. I am an ignorant, ignorant man
by nature. I need for the Lord to teach
me. I need for the Lord to give me an understanding of these
scriptures. I want to believe what God has
to say. Because I'm going to tell you something. He's the
one I'm going to stand before. And the Lord said that the judge
of all men is going to be this word right here. I want to know
what this has got to say. I don't want to be seduced by
that spirit of Jezebel. I don't. I don't. I need for
the Lord to have mercy on me. Because I know this, He's a just
God and He's not going to clear the guilty. I want for the Lord
Jesus Christ to have put away my guilt at Calvary and answered
for me. All the churches are going to
know that I'm He which searcheth the mind, the reins, the hearts. I'm going to give unto every
one of you according to your works. Those books are going
to be open. Lord, I don't want to be... Don't
open the books of my works and judge me out of mine. I want
the book. The book Himself. The Word Himself. I want to be found written in
that book that was written from before the foundation of the
world. The Lamb's Book of Life. I told you about me preaching
one time and I mentioned that. Let me see if I can find it. I think it's John 17. I made
this statement, and they said, when was that book written? Revelation 17. I made this statement. It made a guy so mad, he could
have gotten a hold of my neck. And this is what I said. I said
that the Lamb's book of life was written from before the foundation
of the world. And everybody had always told
me when I was growing up as a kid, whenever I gave my heart to Jesus,
that my name was written in the Book of Life then. And that's
not what Scripture said. John 17, verse 8. The beast that
thou sawest was and is and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names were not written in the Book of Life
from the foundation of the world. So when was God's book written? When was the Lamb's book of life
written? The book, himself, that should be open. When was it written?
From before the foundation of the world. Well, let God be true. Let God be true. When was the
book written? God said it was written before
the foundation of the world. And if a man tells me, no, it's
written by a recording angel, I said, well, that's not true.
Because that refutes what God has to say. I'm telling you,
salvations of the Lord, determined eternally and accomplished in
time, set forth in this blessed book in the gospel. Then the
scripture says in verse 24, but unto you I say and unto the rest
in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine and have not
known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you
none other Now those that are kept by God's power and grace
from the seduction of the lies of this Jezebel, those false
prophets, the Lord says I'm not going to, you that have been
kept by the grace of God, from believing that. He said, I'm
not going to impose any other burden except the ones that you
already bore. That's what he's saying. I'm
not going to impose anything. I'm not going to impose judgment
on you, is what he's saying. Listen to what he's saying. What
I'm going to do to them, I'm not going to do to you. I'm not
going to put any more on you than I already have. But unto
you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have
not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of
Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other. Well, what
burdens? Well, the chastisements of His
love. I don't know a whole lot about
burdens. The Lord's been very gracious
to me. I don't know a lot. But there's some that I know
that have suffered greatly, greatly, even unto death, have been hated
and despised for the glorious gospel. But Paul calls them these
light chastenings, these light chastisement. They're but for
a moment, you know. They're but for a moment, in
light of eternity. But God is pleased to keep His
people through trials, trials. Psalm 119.71, It's good for me
that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It's
good that God Almighty spanks me. It's good that He does. And I'm telling you, as I've
said before, let me tell you where the worst weapons come.
Here's the worst weapons, right here. In my heart, I'll get up,
think about or see the frailty of my flesh and I just, I think,
oh, oh, oh, this is the most embarrassing thing, to see something
of myself. That chastening, but it's good,
it's good that God teaches me. He said in verse 25 to him, but
that which thou have already, hold fast, till I come. Hold
fast, Timothy said, I mean, what Paul said to Timothy, 2 Timothy
1.13, hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of
me. Stand fast in the gospel. Stand fast, stand fast. Hold
fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. Hold fast the gospel of
God's free grace. Hold fast, and by God's grace
you will. Verse 26, And he that overcometh
and keepeth my works, work of faith, labor of love, patience
of hope. He that overcometh and keepeth
my works unto the end, and we shall, by the grace of God. To
him will I give power over the nations. He that overcometh,
by faith. Faith is by which we overcome. That's by believing God. We're
going to suffer. We're going to suffer. By faith
we overcome. Believing the Lord Jesus Christ. He that overcometh, keepeth my
works, unto the end. To him will I give power over
the nations. Those that are kept by the power
of God through faith, the Lord here promises that they're going
to partake in the final triumph in Christ. We're more than conquerors. How? Through him. Through him. What do I have to conquer? I'm
just a powerless worm. That's all I am, but I'm his
worm. I'm his worm. He that overcometh
keepeth my works unto him, while I give power in Christ over the
nations. Scripture says, he shall rule
them with a rod of irons, the vessels of a potter shall they
be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father. That
which he judges He shall judge according to his absolute justice. That he's shown mercy to me is
by his good pleasure. And the scripture says, I'll
give him that morning star. This last verse right here, 2
Peter 1.19. 2 Peter 1.19. He said, verse
28, I will give him the morning star. 2 Peter 1.19 says this,
we have also a more sure word of prophecy. whereby ye do well
that ye take heed. This is the more sure word of
prophecy right here. This is it. This is the scriptures.
This is what we have. You know when Peter was saying
that, it says verse 18 of 2 Peter chapter 1, this voice Peter says,
which came from heaven. Peter was there on the Mount
of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John were there
on the Mount of Transfiguration when God spoke from heaven. And
Peter said, I heard him. I heard God speak. That's what
he's saying. This voice which came from heaven,
we heard. When we were with him in the
Holy Mount, when his countenance was just magnified, shone brighter
than the noonday sun, but he said, but we have a more sure...
Peter said, I heard God speak, but he said, I'm going to tell
you something. We've got a more sure word of prophecy wherein to you
do well. that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your
hearts until the Lord Jesus Christ come back." He said, this word
of prophecy that we hold to, he said, this is a more sure
right here, these scriptures. He said, even then my relating
to you that I heard God speak, he said, you got a more sure
word of prophecy right here, this book. He that hath an ear,
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Almighty
God graciously revealed to the church at Thyatira. He said,
I've got something against you. That spirit of rebellion, that
Jezebel, He said, don't tolerate that. Don't mingle with it. Don't have anything to do with
it. Then He spoke to him concerning His mercy and grace and promised
to keep them. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to teach us this day. I need to be taught, you do too.
May the Lord have mercy on us for Christ's sake.