Thank you. Those words are striking,
aren't they? Must I be carried on flowery
beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sailed through
bloody seas? The fact that we're able to sit
here tonight Without fear of. Authorities
breaking in. Hailing us all to jail. For. Believing the truth preaching
the truth. The fact that we're able to do that we owe a great
deal to those who gave their lives for this freedom. The very
book that we have in our possession right here the translation. Of
God's word. Was not. obtained without shedding
blood at the loss of life. Men and women laid their lives
down for the sake of the truth. We're called to the same. We're
called to the same. Revelation chapter two. Revelation two. As I've said so many times, ours
is not a ministry of negatives We don't attempt to build a ministry
by tearing down anything and everyone. Yet the scriptures
very clearly, very boldly, very dogmatically denounce error. Paul said, We have renounced
the hidden things of dishonesty, not handling the word of God
in craftiness. We must as a faithful watchman
I must warn the sheep of the coming wolf. And as believers. We need to. Churches called the
old writers used to call the church church militant. That
is the church still in the battle is still upon this earth. Is
indeed still in a warfare. If you read ahead in 2 Timothy,
you'll find he said in chapter 2 that we're to endure hardness as a
good soldier. No man that warreth entangles
themselves with the affairs of this life. There is a war still
going on. That very hymn we just sang says,
Is the world a friend of grace? You'll find out very quickly
that it's not if you but dared stand up and just stand the truth. If you know anything and like
I said ours is not a ministry of negatives not at all. I want
to preach the message entitled straight stick preaching. Using
that illusion that if you put down a straight stick you'll
see the crooked the scriptures do very clearly reveal the crooked
for what it is crooked. And if you know anything about
the glory of the Lord and have seen just a little bit of his
majesty and his power, it's easy for you to become quite indignant
and quite provoked at this ignorant and impudent world that carries
on all of its carryings on under the name of God and the name
of Christianity. With all of their talk of some
God they've conjured up and some Jesus, I cringe when they use
that glorious and blessed name in such a fashion. I cringe.
It makes me ashamed. And they supposedly follow this
one who in no way resembles the Lord Jesus Christ of the Holy
Scriptures, and a candle does, a flickering candle does, to
the Son. I've said so many times, if one would have a clear picture
or description of the Lord Jesus Christ, he only needs to read
Revelation chapter one, and he would see. And there he or she
would have a view of the infinitely glorious and powerful person
of the Lord Jesus Christ and see him as he is. And someday
every eye will behold him as he is, not as they think he is,
not as they've conjured him up to be, but as he is. And not as he was either. Many
people stumbled when he came the first time because his glory
was veiled from human And they stumbled at him, his claims. They stumbled at him, as they
do now, because they have no understanding of how he really
is. Being ignorant of the Scriptures,
not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. And all eyes are going to see
him. The Scripture says they're going to weep and wail because
of him whom they have pierced. And now and forevermore, every
eye shall someday see him. And if you've noticed in every
one of these letters that we've studied thus far have you noticed
with me that in every one of these letters to the churches.
He at the very outset of the letter he gives a brief description
of himself. You notice that he rehearses
with them or gives Another brief description of his glory and
his majesty. Have you noticed that with look
at verse one of chapter two. He says these things to the church
at Ephesus. These things say he that hold
it to seven stars in his right hands and walk walked in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks. And then in chapter or verse
eight of that same chapter, the church at Smyrna These things
saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive."
Look at verse twelve, under the church at Pergamos, right, these
things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Verse
eighteen, these things to the church at Thyatira, these things
saith the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and
feet are like fine brass. Chapter three, verse one, to
the church at Sardis. These things say, if he that
hath the seven spirits of God and the seven star. Verse seven,
chapter three, the angel of the church in Philadelphia, these
things say, if he that is holy, that is true, that the key of
David that openeth no man shutteth and shutteth no man open. Verse
fourteen, under the angel of the church at Laodicea, these
things say, if the amen, the faithful, the true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God. Each time he reminds the
churches of his glorious majesty and his awesome person so that
they won't forget, that they won't forget who he really is.
In verse 18, there's not a more striking characteristic given
in all of these verses, in all of these letters, than the one
given us tonight in verse 18. Under the angel of the church
in Thyatira write, These things saith The Son of God. I like that name. I like that
name. What a name. The Son of God. The only begotten, well-beloved
Son of the Most High. God. The Son of the Highest.
Someone called Him the Crown Prince of Heaven. The Son of
God. And He says here, He's the Son
of God who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, fiery eyes. Hebrews 12, 29 says, Our God
is a consuming fire. It's not this sweet Jesus that
men talk about. He has eyes like a flame of fire. Our God is a consuming fire.
Psalm 11, verse 4 said, His eyes behold His eyelids try. They're
omniscient eyes. They're all-seeing eyes. All
things are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we
have to do. He sees all, knows all, beholds
all. Eyes of fire. Have you ever stood
before a roaring bonfire? If you get too close, it will
consume you, won't it? Not only that, it brings everything
to light, doesn't it? All around it. Bringing all things
to light. These are the eyes of our Lord.
bringing all things to light, exposing all darkness for what
it is. Eyes that flash with anger. Men
are going to see eyes like they've never seen before. Have you ever seen the eyes of
someone who's absolutely full of fierceness and anger? Men
have never seen eyes like they're going to behold someday. Eyes
of fire flash with anger. God is angry with the wicked
every day. Eyes also, fiery eyes, this means also eyes that are
warm and sparkle, eyes of love, that flash, that sparkle, a sparkle
in his eye, a beam, a twinkle in his eye, if you will, for
his children. And then it says here, he has
eyes like unto the flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. His feet are like fine brass. Now, I don't know if you'll get
anything out of this. I don't know if I'll be able to make you see
what the reason I wrote it down, but here's a note of interest.
Brass. You know what brass, where the metal brass comes from? The
metal brass is an alloy. that mean anything is an alloy
is a mixture of things and brass is an alloy of copper and zinc
two parts copper and one part zinc. This was glorious to make copper
now you know that copper is one of the only truly native ores
that we mine out of the earth. In other words, when we say native,
it's something that appears in its pure form. You don't melt
it down, you don't have to, like gold, you don't have to get away
the dross and the rock and all the earth and so forth to get
to it. It's there. And the scripture says it's in
abundance. That's the Godhead of Christ. Two parts, God the
Father, God the Holy Spirit. He's two parts God. One part
man zinc now zinc is is never native it's never found in its
purest form. Except when it was found in the
person of Christ man never found in his purest form except when
Christ took that part took the seed of woman and it must be
extracted must be extracted must be two parts. copper, one part
zinc, to make this thing of brass. We'll see what it is. But it
says here, his feet are like fine brass. His feet are like
fine brass. These are the feet of the God-man. The feet of the God-man. The
foundation upon which life stands are the feet of God. He's the
one who holds this universe up. And in the feet of man who walked
this planet, his feet are like fine brass. Now turn over with
me with me to Psalm one fifteen. Psalm one fifteen. You've all heard this silly little
saying that Armenians are very fond of quoting God has no hands
but your hands. No feet but your feet. No voice but your voice no mouth
but your mouth you've heard that in I remember one time I was working
on the railroad they had a little Bible study so to speak on Friday's
lunchtime and some well known so-called evangelist stopped
in there at the request of one of the workers there and he gave
his little spiel and I was a young believer at the time I didn't
know much I knew he was a heretic but he got up afterward and quoted
that little little saying now and ask me and accept Jesus,
you know, he said, because he has no hand but your hand, no
feet, but I wish I'd have known Psalm 115 at the time. I wish
I'd have had the zeal and the guts, if you will, to stand up
and say, wait a minute, let's read Psalm 115 about his hands
and his feet. Look at it with me. Psalm 115,
he says in verse three, aren't gods in the heavens? He does
whatsoever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold,
the works of men's hand. They have mouths, but they can't
speak. Eyes have they, but they don't see. They have ears, but
they don't hear. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their throats. And they that make them are like
unto them, so is everyone that trusted them." Now, they're right. Their God
has no feet, but they're feet. But our God has feet. They're
feet like brass. They're fine feet. Fine feet. It's brass that burns in a fiery
oven, Revelation 1 says. And all unbelievers are going
to see one day he's got feet because they're going to be Right? Well, he does have feet after
all. I didn't think he had any but mine. But all believers are
going to be kissing them. They love those feet. Just like
Mary Magdalene loved those feet when he was on there. They loved
those glorious feet. She loved those and saw beauty
in those glorious feet. She saw he had feet. She saw
he was the Lord of glory and only if she could get to his
feet and sit at his feet and bow at his feet would she receive
pardon and salvation. And the people of God, they see
he has faith. He has faith, all right. All
right, look at verse nineteen in our text. He says, Now I know
thy works. Do you see how all this, and
like I said, ours is not one of the negatives, but all of
this needs to be exposed, and it's absolute blasphemy. And you think of a more blasphemous
thing to say than God can't do anything unless you let him. They have their little gods,
don't they? Our God, where's your God, David? You son of David,
where's your God? He's in the heavens and he does
whatsoever he pleases. And you do whatsoever he pleases.
All right, he says, I know your works, verse 19. I know your
works and I know your charity and your service, your faith
and your patience. I know your work and your works.
And once again, he says this to the church, and once again,
it's important. The works of the believers are
important. Paul said in Romans 12, verse 1, he said, I beseech
you by the mercies of God that you present your body to the
living sacrifice and to God as your reasonable servant. He knows
our works. He knows how we live, what we
do, and works are important. They're not unto salvation, but
they're because of it. They're because of it. Faith
without works is dead. He says, I know your love. I
know your love to me. I know your service to me. I
know your faith. I know your patience under affliction. All of this in the cause of Christ.
He's saying basically the same thing that he said to the church
at Pergamos who went under such trial and affliction
and so forth and persecution and endured with such patience
and I know what you're going through.
And then he mentions their works again. He says, And thy works.
I know your works. And then at the last, he says,
And thy works. And the last to be more than the first. And don't
let that confuse you. I believe he's saying there,
and many of the men that I have good confidence in, a good deal
of confidence in, said the same thing. I believe he's saying
that I know your zeal and your enthusiasm and your works when
I first revealed myself to you and you were in my service, and
I know your works at the last. The last will be more than the
first. In other words, fruit will be more on an older vine. The older a vine or older a believer
becomes, the more fruit he will bear to the glory of the Lord. The last works will be more than
the first. All right, now, verse twenty,
then he says to the church, and to as many as this applies, he
gets into this thing, it's a very, very deep mystery. Verse twenty,
he says, notwithstanding, now he just commended the church
there for her love to him and service and faith and patience
and works and so forth. He says in verse twenty now,
he warns them, notwithstanding I have a few things against thee.
A few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess. Every word is significant here.
She calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants. to commit to commit fornication
and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. If you want to go back sometime
and read this story of Jezebel, it's found in first Kings sixteen
and her story ends in the second Kings chapter nine. But first
Kings sixteen is the first mention of this woman named Jezebel and
I'll briefly tell you who she is it's very interesting reading
go back and read it sometime. Jezebel was the wife and the
scriptures have a whole lot to say about Jezebel she's mentioned
quite a few times. Jezebel was the wife of a wicked
king named Ahab a wicked king named Ahab and she was the daughter
of a Zidonian King or Sidonian King. Does the name the city
Sidon ring a bell with you. Tyre and Sidon that our Lord
spoke of so much and that so many of the Old Testament prophets
spoke of the downfall of this place called Sidon and its neighboring
city of Tyre or Sidon. This woman, Jezebel, came from
this place. Sidon was a wicked place, a great
and glorious city, but a wicked one, and it's very hostile to
the children of Israel. When Israel was going into fair
Canaan to take the promised land that God promised them, they
failed to take Sidon. The Lord told them to wipe out
every city in their path. They didn't do it with the Sidonians.
And the Sidonians harassed and harangued and fought against
Israel for a long time until finally they made a league and
a covenant. And eventually Israel was corrupted
by the Sidonians. And Sidon was a city renowned
for its art history, for its crafts. its finery, its architecture,
and many things of that sort. If these things ring a bell,
it's because it's very clear of who this is speaking of. Sidon? Sidon also was renowned for its
worship of pagan gods, beginning with the worship of Baal. This
is where the worship of Baal came from. This is the reason
the prophets foretold of the destruction of Sidon, because
they introduced the worship to Baal. Baal was basically a he-god. And then they worshiped this
god called Ashtoreth. Ashtoreth. She was a she-god. Now they had a god that fit everybody. They had a god that would please
anybody. They had a he-god. They'd have
a she-god. They'd have a him-saint and a
her-saint. And you'd bow before whichever
one you felt like worshiping. Now, all of this clearly depicts
Roman Catholicism beyond the shadow of a doubt, which has
its Jesus and which has its Mary. And you can take your pick. You
can worship whichever one you want, whichever you want you
want. He God and she God, they're of equal power, and it depicts
also any and all religions that are allied to this form of idolatry. Jezebel, if you remember the
story, Jezebel was a headstrong, a mighty powerful woman. She
ruled a roost. Her husband was truly hen-pecked. She ruled a roost. He did what
she told. him to do. Jezebel ruled her
house, and she was especially, as you can imagine, she was especially
fond of Ashtoreth, the she-god, the she-god, Ashtoreth. Now,
the parallels are many. The parallels are many, and the
Lord in the New Testament here talks and warns people of suffering
this Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess to teach and seduce
my servant. The parallels are many. A religion
of show, a religion of artistry, of finery, of all of its tapestries
and statues and things in great and glorious cities. A religion of show, a religion
of women, that women mostly patronized, women of finery, of grandeur,
and you'll read the story sometime, Jezebel persecuted the truth.
She persecuted the true prophet and the true God and the truth. She persecuted the truth, and
she obtained houses and lands, and she took everything in her
path underhandedly at the hands of her husband. She instructed
him to do this and do that. And she obtained lands and things
by force and by trickery. Read the story sometime of Naboth,
whose vineyard she trickily obtained. And Jezebel
one day sat in her window. And 2 Kings chapter 9 is the
story of her demise. She sat in her window one day,
painted in all her finery. She looked real good, and it
says she had a headdress on her head. And it says she looked
out her window, and here came a fellow named Jehu. Now, the
name Jehu means Jehovah is he. I like that. Jehovah is he. You've heard all this talk today,
all this blasphemous talk about making God a she and taking the
sexist language out of the scriptures and all that. Jehu means Jehovah
is he. And this man came riding into
town one day looking for this Jezebel. And he saw her and she
was glaring down at him from the window and had her little
headdress on. And he told his soldiers to throw her down.