Now we'll stay right there where
Brother David just read in Revelation chapter 2 beginning with verse
18 concerning a church in a place called Thyatira. This is the
fourth letter written to the seven churches of Asia Minor. These churches do not represent
seven different church ages as some say. But they represent
things that the churches, which were founded upon the gospel
to begin with, go through throughout the last days. From the first
coming of Christ and His death on the cross, His ascension unto
glory, all the way up to His second coming. And in the first
one, Ephesus, we saw a weakening or a waning of the initial zeal
for the love of brethren and for the gospel, getting the gospel
out. It said they lost your first
love. The church at Smyrna, we saw
the church being attacked by Satan from without. Persecution. Persecution. And then the church
at Pergamos, we saw the church being attacked from within. And
that seems to be the pattern as we go throughout the last
days, as we come nearer and nearer to the second coming of Christ.
We don't know when he's coming, but he is coming again. And we're
not to sit around and try to figure out when that is, the
day and the time. Only the Lord knows that. But
we're given here situations that churches which began in the gospel,
and some remained, like for example, the church at Smyrna, he had
nothing against them. They were standing for the truth,
and they were being persecuted. One even lost his life over the
gospel. Satan persecuting the church
from the outside, you might say, in persecutions. But throughout,
we see the situations that the true church, which began in the
truth, at least, and some continued, would go through in the last
days. And here, at the church at Thyatira, an example of a
church which began in the gospel, and much of which remained in
the gospel, but we see an ungodly spirit, an attitude entering
the church through a woman whom he labels here as Jezebel, and
I'm sure that was not her real name. I don't think anybody names
their daughters Jezebel these days. But he's using Jezebel
out of the Old Testament, the idolatrous, wicked wife of an
idolatrous, wicked king of Israel, the northern kingdom named Ahab.
And we see an ungodly spirit beginning to take hold within
the church. And even some who were believers
at first were tolerating it. And that's bad. And that's why
Christ says, I have somewhat against you. So I've entitled
this lesson, this message, The Sinfully Tolerant Church. The Sinfully Tolerant Church.
And the lesson here is this, that if false doctrine, false
teachings, enter into the church at large, you can't let it go,
you can't ignore it. And a lot of people do, and that's
the beginning of the falling away of the church. Now we know
that on earth, even in true churches where the gospel is preached,
there's always going to be a mixture of true believers and unbelievers. Christ dealt with that in Matthew
13 in the kingdom parables when he dealt with the parable of
the different hearts, you know, the stony ground hearer, the
thorny ground hearer, and the good ground hearer. And then
he talks about Satan sowing his tares in the world, that's false
churches. But here this church at Thyatira
began, was built on the foundation of the true gospel of God's grace
in Christ. Not a false gospel. A church
that's built on a false gospel, that's one of Satan's tares.
And it's filled up with tares. You know what a tare is, that's
a plant that was, some people say deadly, and it may have been,
I don't know if it's poisonous or not, but it looks like wheat,
but it's not wheat. And that's why Christ said he'll
separate the wheat from the tares and all of that. Here in this
church at Thyatira, listen to what he says, verse 18, unto
the angel, the minister, the pastor, the elder, the messenger,
of the Church of Thyatira write, these things saith the Son of
God, that refers to the deity of Christ, that refers to his
messianic office and work, the Son of God, who hath eyes like
unto a flame of fire, nothing gets by him. He sees it all. He knows it all. He's omniscient. It means he knows it all, not
just because he looks down through the future. The Bible doesn't
know anything of a God who just looks down through the future
or a telescope of time and learns. But he is the determinate one,
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge, which literally means foreordination
of God. And he has eyes like a flame
of fire. Cuts to the heart. He knows it
all. He knows your heart. He knows
my heart. And his feet are like fine brass. Look how he identifies himself
here. His feet, his eyes of fire and his feet of brass refers
to judgment. The Bible says in Romans 2-2,
we're sure that the judgment of God is according to truth
against them which commit such things. God never makes a mistake. Sometimes when I judge, I judge
wrongly. If I judge righteous judgment,
I judge based on God's word, and that can't be wrong, because
that's God. But I'm not God. I'm just a sinner saved by grace.
We do judge, but we judge based on God's word if we're going
to be correct. But his feet like fine brass, that speaks of his
power, both to conquer his enemies, and save his people from sin?
The brass brazen, remember the brazen altar? Back over in Daniel
3, Christ, in a pre-incarnate appearance, He appeared in the
fiery furnace with the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, and saved them from death, and He Himself, like
refined brass, burned in a furnace, went under the judgment of God
for His people to suffer unto death, and satisfy the wrath
of God against us? We've been talking about that
at lunch, you know, talking about, were the sins of God's elect
ever imputed to them? Well, you could say yes, but
only as we stood in union with Christ, which in essence, they're
not imputed to us personally, but to Him, our surety. Have
we ever gone under the wrath of God? Yes, but not in our own
persons, only in Christ, who went under the wrath of God for
us. We personally were never under the wrath of God. We were
vessels of mercy, afore, before, prepared unto glory. And that's
why we don't go under the wrath of God, because we have Christ,
whose feet are like fine brass, going through the fiery furnace,
just like he did with the Hebrew children back in Daniel chapter
three. He put away our sins. Establish righteousness whereby
God could be just to justify us. And we who are in Christ
have nothing to fear from judgment because there is no condemnation
in Him. He did it all. He suffered the
just for the unjust. Oh, His blood and righteousness.
Can you ever get over it? God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so this speaks
of Christ in His character as God manifest in the flesh, but
also as our surety and our substitute and our redeemer, but also as
the judge who sees all and knows all. You cannot get by Him. And so He says to this church
in verse 19, I know thy works. I know thy works. This is the
fruit of His power and grace in their lives. They bore the
fruit of God's grace and faith in Christ. He noticed, he took
notice of their charity, that's love for Christ, love for his
truth, love for his people. And you know, one commentator
said that charity is a, it's the word, you've heard of the
word agape, which means love. And they said that, this commentator
said that charity really is a better translation than the word L-O-V-E,
because charity means love in action. So it's not just saying
I love you. It's not just a Hallmark card.
It's doing something for someone. And these are not meritorious
works. Christ never takes notice of the works of his children
as earning anything from him. Because that love is in the heart
of a believer by the sovereign grace and goodness of God. It
is an evidence of our faith in Him. Do I really believe in Him? He says, your service, that's
serving the Lord and serving others in whatever way that we're
commanded to do so. He mentions this woman Jezebel
who rose up in the church and right away you know there's something
wrong because a woman is forbidden to have authority in the church.
That's why some unbelievers say that people who believe like
us that we hate women. Ladies, I don't hate you. We
do not hate you. We respect you. And we love you. And we thank God for you. And
He has given you gifts of service and even ministry. But you're
not to have authority over a man in the church. The church is
set up to reflect Christ and His church, Christ and His bride. Today you see people that don't
care about that. You'll see all kinds of churches
around here. They have husband and wife, both of them pastors.
That's unbiblical. And what I'm saying, I realize
what I'm saying to you is very unpopular today. And will not
win many friends or influence many people. But it's just so.
So he said, I know your service. Even you ladies. He knows your
service too. Serving the Lord in whatever
capacity God gives and allows. He says, I know your faith, that's
faithfulness. Look at it. And faith, that's
faithfulness to Christ and his word in service and worship. We know that our faithfulness
is based upon his faithfulness to save us, to keep us, and to
bring us to glory. I know your patience, he says,
your endurance under trials in the face of opposition and persecution. And that's by the grace of God,
isn't it? That's not by our power and grace or goodness, it's by
His power and grace. And this is all, all His determination. And look what He says here in
verse 19, the last to be more than the first. What He's saying
there is Christ is bringing forth His fruit within you and you're
growing in grace and knowledge. You remember the Ephesian church,
they had lost their first love. But he says of the church at
Thyatira, your love, your service is greater than the first. And
so what does that mean? Does that mean they're better
people than the Ephesians? No. It simply means that God
has been merciful to them in this way because this is what
they needed. But then immediately, here it
comes, verse 20, notwithstanding I have a few things against thee.
because thou sufferest or you allow that woman Jezebel which
calleth herself a prophetess." In other words, she appointed
herself to be a preacher, a prophetess. Teaching to say she's teaching
God's Word and here's what she's actually doing. to teach and
to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things
sacrificed unto idols." Now here's the rub, the ungodly toleration
of unbiblical doctrines, unbiblical practices, apparently promoted
by some prominent woman in the church. Now let me say this,
as believers, as sinners saved by grace, as we work together
within the confines of the church. We're to tolerate many things. We're to tolerate each other. We're to be forgiving, forbearing
with each other. We're going to make mistakes.
We're going to sin. We're going to have differences,
not over the doctrines of God, not over the gospel. but over
things on earth. We're gonna get angry at each
other, and we're to be tolerant. The Bible says, love covereth
a multitude of sins. But when it comes to the doctrines
of grace, to the gospel itself, and to the practices of the church,
we're not to give an inch. We're not to back up and tolerate
in order to keep the peace. And that's why toleration comes
about. We don't want to make anybody
mad. Apparently this woman, we don't know her real name, but
apparently she had some influence with people. And you know how
it is, you get a following, you spread some rumors and all of
that. But he said you're not to tolerate it. He calls her
Jezebel, and as I said, that's the name that was given to Ahab's
wife. Ahab and Jezebel, if you want
to read about them, go back to 1 Kings chapter 19 and read on
through. It's several chapters. Ahab was an evil king. It's said
that he was worse than any other king before him. He didn't do
the things that are right. He didn't lead the people in
the worship of God. And he married a Gentile woman
named Jezebel, who also brought idolatry into Israel. She brought
in false doctrine, false practices. And he mentions here that her
aim was to seduce God's servants to commit fornication and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now, as you know, Those cities
back then were full of idolatry. Thyatira was full of trade guilds. You remember that? And all those
trade guilds back then were connected with an idol. And many times,
if you were like a carpenter in the carpenter trade guild,
they had their particular idol, and you had to give in to that
in order to keep your job or to be prominent or to get a raise
or whatever. And one of the guilds, or many
of them, had a practice of having parties and eating things that
were sacrificed to idols, which meant you entered into their
religious idolatry. And Jezebel, whoever she was,
she was saying to believers, that's okay, you've got to keep
your job, you've got to keep the peace, you don't want to
offend anybody. You know the story. That's how
it goes. And he calls it committing fornication. Now we all know that the practice
of physical fornication is evil and not to be tolerated. We know
that. But I believe what he is specifically
referring to here is worse. Worse! And that is spiritual
fornication. Tolerating idols, false gospels,
false gods. false believers in order to get
along, in order to keep the peace. And that's the issue. Tolerance
of and participation in the pagan practices in order to get along. And by allowing her to do this,
the church became a partner with her evil deeds. Turn over to
2 John, just a few pages back. 2 John. You remember this in verse 9? Second John 9. Second John 9 says, Whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ. To
continue in the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of his person, the
doctrine of his finished work, the gospel, the practices that
are commissioned and commanded in the Word of God in our worship,
all of that. Well, whosoever transgresses,
goes beyond that, and abides not in the truth, hath not God. God is not their father. They're
not in acceptance with God. That comes through Christ, the
true Christ. And he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he
hath both the Father and the Son. Now look what he says in
verse 10. If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him God speak. Now that's not talking about
your homes, that's talking about the church, the house of God.
If a person would come into our assembly, and want to join the
church officially, or get up and teach or anything like it,
if they didn't teach the doctrine of Christ as is in the scripture
in the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace to save sinners
based upon the righteousness of Christ freely imputed, if
they taught other practices that were ungodly such as women pastors,
women teachers, all of that, don't receive them. Welcome them,
say, yeah, we're glad you're here, sit down, hear the gospel.
But you don't receive them and embrace them as a brother or
sister in Christ. Because if you do, verse 11,
he that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker, a participant
in his evil deeds. If you tolerate that, it's just
like you're doing the same thing. Even though you might say, well,
I don't agree with that. I've heard that sometimes with people.
They tell me, oh, we believe the doctrines of grace. I don't
agree with his free willism of today. But they still embrace
them as brothers and sisters. That's the problem. And we're
commanded not to do that. The gospel. Which is the power of God and
the salvation is too vital. Too important to try to mix it
up and to put up with and compromise with false doctrine. This is
serious business. This is life and death. This
is not just morphine from an Armenian freewheeler to a Calvinist
sovereign gracer. That's not growth in grace. If
God brings you from a false gospel to the true gospel, that's the
new birth. That's conversion. That's bringing
a sinner to faith in Christ and repentance of dead works. That's
what Paul said. Everything that I thought recommended
me unto God, when I saw the light of the glory of God in Christ
and His righteousness alone, I counted all but lost, but dumbed
that I may win Christ and be found in Him. Not having mine
own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith or the faithfulness of Christ." Well, look at what he says here
in verse 21, back in Revelation 2. I gave her space to repent
of her fornication, and she repented not. Judgment comes with warning. And what is that warning? Well,
it's what I'm doing here. Warnings, in this sense, are
not threatenings, or let me put it to you this way. Warnings
are not legal threatenings aimed at scaring people into making
a false profession. But these are warnings of grace.
These are warnings that come from the promise of life from
the dead through Christ. And it's like telling this woman
and her followers, what you're doing is deadly. It's not just another idea, another
philosophy, another religion, another opinion. It's deadly. When you compromise the glorious
person, the finished work of Christ, and tell his children
that it's okay to commit this spiritual fornication, this spiritual
adultery. You're courting death, eternal
death. That's how serious this is. It's not, as one man said, well,
when it's all over but the shouting, the Lord's gonna put us all in
a box and shake it up and see who falls out and who falls where. No. You see, my religious opinion
and your religious opinion doesn't make a darn. The only thing that makes a darn
is, thus saith the Lord. And this is salvation. And God
is forbearing. He said, I gave her space to
repent. But here's what we know from God's Word. That if left
to herself, Just like us, if left to ourselves, we will not
repent. We just won't do it. Why? Because we're spiritually dead,
in trespasses and sins. Repentance is the gift of God,
and yet, God commands all men everywhere to repent, because
he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained, and that he hath given assurance
unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. So what do we pray for such people?
We pray, Lord, bring them to repentance. Lord, grant them
the gift of faith in Christ and repentance. It's yours to give.
But the consequences are severe. Look at verse 22. Behold, I will
cast her into a bed, not a bed of rest and peace, And then they
commit adultery with her into great tribulation, a bed of trouble. You ever heard the expression,
you made your bed, now lie in it? That's what he's telling them.
Except they repent of their deeds, their compromise, which looks
like love. Do you know that? To the natural
man. You know, this sinful toleration looks like love, but it's not
love. Oh, we'll just, you know, people
today in religion that calls itself Christian say, well, we'll
just receive everybody. Come as you are. We'll receive. And what they
mean by that, we'll receive you into our fellowship. Oh, that church is such a loving
church. That's not love. I'll tell you
what, it is love. It's self-love. But it's not love of God. It's
not love of truth. It's not love of His people.
So I'll 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 and hearts.
I search what's in your heart and what drives you. and I will
give unto every one of you according to your works." Oh, my son. That
right there ought to be enough to cause a true believer, and
it is enough for a true believer to see, hey, the one thing that
you do not want is to stand in judgment before God according
to your works. You say, well, I've tried to
be a good person. I'm glad you have tried to be.
But you don't want to appear before God pleading the fact
that you've tried to be a good person. Because I'm going to
tell you, it's not good enough. Somebody asked me one time, well,
why isn't it? I said, because it falls short of the perfection
of righteousness that can only be found in one person alone. The Lord Jesus Christ. And if
you reject Him, there's no hope for you. I don't care who you
are, where you've been, or what you've tried to do. I will give
unto every one of you according to your worth. What is he saying?
He says they don't have Christ. They claim to be Christian. They
claim to love everybody. But they don't have Christ. They
don't have His blood to wash away their sins. They don't have
His righteousness to justify them. They've rejected the true
Savior. Verse 24, He says, 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. I won't burden you with
the judgments that fall upon those who have rejected Christ,
who have not followed the doctrine of Jezebel and her fornication.
He says in verse 25, but that which you already have, Hold fast till I come. What do
they already have? They already have the fullness
and the freeness of salvation, every blessing and benefit of
God's grace, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's where
they're going to stay by the grace of God. Hang on to Christ
for dear life. Run the race of grace looking
unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. He is
my righteousness. I have no other. I have no righteousness within.
One day I will. That's when I'm glorified. But
Christ is all. Hold on till he comes. And we
know that the only way we're going to hold on is if he holds
on to us. Look at verse 26. He that overcometh and keepeth
my works until the end, to him will I give power over the nations. The people of God will sit in
Christ in judgment over the nations. Why? Because our salvation is
a testimony against those who reject Christ. We don't have any authority,
but Christ has all authority and we're in Him. Verse 27 says, He shall rule
them with a rod of iron. The rod of iron is a rod of judgment. He says, as the vessels of a
potter, God is the potter, we're the clay. As the vessels of a
potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of
my father. All judgment is put into his
hands. And verse 28 says, I will give
him the morning star. Now the morning star technically
is Christ. But He is what we have. The Son
of Righteousness that I read about in the last book of the
Old Testament. The Son of Righteousness arising
with healing in His wings. Malachi chapter 4. And then He ends it like He ends
every one of these letters, verse 29. He that hath an ear to hear,
he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. Do we have ears to hear? I pray
we do. Do we have eyes to see? I pray
we do. May the Lord bless His word to
our hearts.