Well, we're continuing to look in the book of Revelation. And we had begun looking last week at the church, the message to the church at Thyatira. And I'll read that again. And we'll look a little further into it. It says, And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass.

I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. 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 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 ye 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 to the churches.

Now, as we have looked at this book from the beginning, we need to continually remind ourself what this book is. It is the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him. And so this book, in the whole, from beginning to end, And on every page of it is a description of the triumphs of Jesus Christ. And that triumph has two things. One is he has triumphed in redeeming his people. That's primarily the message of the book, is the triumph of Jesus Christ in the redemption of his people, those whom he has loved, the scripture says, from before the foundation of the world. And the other message of the triumph of Christ is the triumph of Christ over the wicked, that he will destroy the wicked.

And that's plainly seen throughout this book, over and over again. The Lord will destroy the wicked with the flame, the fire of his own mouth. He will destroy them. And so this is, as he speaks to the church at Thyatira, we see this again set forth. Now we keep in mind that the Lord makes a difference between his people and the people of the world.

And we see this in every one of these letters to these churches because every one of them ends with these words. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. Now everybody can't hear. Everybody won't hear. Everybody's glad that they can't hear. Or I say there are those that are glad that they can't hear.

You know, those who are the Lord's people, they want to hear. Now they don't start off wanting to hear, but when the Lord's pleased to awaken them, as He said to Nicodemus, except a man be born again, He said, Nicodemus, you must be born again. The Lord does do that. And when He awakens a man by the power of His Spirit, He becomes somebody who wants to hear.

He's no longer content to go down the road with fingers in his ears. But he wants to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so when the exhortation comes and says, hear what the Spirit says to the churches, that's not like, oh no. We don't wanna hear what the Spirit says to the church. No, I wanna hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The people of God want to hear the word of God. They want to know what the Lord's saying. They're not interested in what the world's saying, because what the world's saying, we've listened to that long enough, and where did that get us? You know, as we sang that song there a moment ago. And we want to put aside the whisperings of the world. You know, the world, it whispers to us every day.

Just like, I'm sure that when Satan came to Eve, he didn't holler at her. You know, snakes say hiss, don't they? And I can imagine that he came up with this most soothing voice. Now, do you really believe that this is true? I mean, realistically, Eve, come on. Has God said that? Did God really say that? I mean, is that really true? And so, that's the way that the world is.

It has a soothing voice. It appeals to us. There's not a person in this room that the world does not appeal to. I mean, you know, the things of the world, they're bright and shiny and happy and glittery, and who wouldn't like it? That's the way it's designed to be. But you see, the word of God comes to the people of God to teach us all that glitters is not gold. And we're not interested in the shiny. What we want is the substance. And that's what he says. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.

Now he commended the church at Thyatira. He says, I know thy works, charity, service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last be more than the first. He commends his children. And he encourages his children. to do good works, to do good things.

And it's interesting that it was here at Thyatira that there was a woman whom Paul met, said that she met with some others down by the riverside, whose heart the Lord opened, and her name was Lydia. And she lived in Thyatira. And so I can imagine that she was a part of this assembly to whom this message comes. Says, I know thy words. You know, I was thinking of that, how the Lord, he encourages his people.

Often as a father encourages his child, when he's very young and he's not able to do things, and the father will say, for instance, if the child, he's gonna teach the child to hit a ball or to kick a ball or something, and the father will hold the child's hands and he'll do that. And then he'll say to the child, look what you did. And the child didn't do it, but the father commended the child.

And that's the same way it is with the good works that are performed in the people of God. The Lord commends His people for doing these things. You know, as we grow up and we grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord, we know, hey, we didn't do any of those things. No, it was the Lord doing those things.

And so, What a glorious God He is, that He shows mercy to us when we need it, and He teaches us when we need it. See, a grown man doesn't need the same teaching that a young child needs. And as the Lord is pleased to draw us to Himself, He gives us things, and His message often grows more stringent. It grows more urgent. it grows more strict.

Because you see, the Lord knows what we are. And He would keep us back from being destroyed. And the means by which He does it is through the exhortations of His Word and the Spirit of God leading us into all truth. And that's the thing, that's what we're seeing set forth before Him.

He says, Now, I know you've done all these things, but now he's gonna speak to them as they're not babies. He says, nevertheless. He said, now you've done a good job. He pats them on the back. But he said, nevertheless. He said, I've got something against you.

You're not, everything's not roses because, he said, you have let A woman, Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach, seduce my servants to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. He says, you've entertained the world. I believe that's what Jezebel represents. The world, the message of the world. Because the world says that it can tell us a lot of things. The world is a great prophet or a prophetess.

And it comes letting us think that, well, you know, just like as Brother Al pointed out this morning, Jezebel is associated with sexual impurity. And of course the Baal worship and all of these pagan worshipers were, they were given over to this wickedness in their worship and things. And so Jezebel being a worshiper of Baal, in fact she, remember she caused Ahab to become a worshiper of Baal. And just like as Solomon became weak in his old age, and his wives seduced him into these things. But all of this, when we think about the sodomites that the king, who was an Aesir, I believe it was, that did away with the sodomites in the land.

And this is just a picture. On the one hand, the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah was not per se. the activity that they were involved in. But the activity that they were involved in was against the way of God. It was a rebellion against God. It was an idolatry because it held up something that was more important than God.

And that's what the world does. It comes to us, tells us, well, it's really not that bad. You know, it's really not that bad. When you start thinking that something that God said don't do is not really that bad, then you have succumbed to idolatry. Because when God says you should not do this, then that's what he said not to do. It doesn't matter what the world says. You know, it doesn't matter if they say, oh, well, we gotta love everybody. No, we don't have to love everybody. I mean, the Lord doesn't love everybody in the same fashion. And he hasn't called us to love everybody.

Now, that doesn't mean we're gonna try to hurt people or we're going to, you know, and try to destroy them in some fashion. But it means that we're going to stand against those things, especially in our own mind. Now, there's not anything that you can really do.

I mean, that particular sinful way has been in the world since the beginning, and God said it's a judgment that he has sent upon men. Some people say, well, you know, God's gonna destroy us because of the sodomites. Well, he's not gonna destroy us because of the sodomites. He's showing us what his judgment is by causing these things to become more rampant as time goes on because he will pour out his wrath on this world.

But brethren, we're not of the world. This is not us. We're not embracing that. We're not looking at it and saying, well, you know, we just got to get along. No, we don't have to get along. We have to point out what these things are and be true to the word of God, whether in the marketplace, but most especially in our own mind. We can't begin to say, well, you know, Well, it's okay. I mean, we see it on TV, and we say, well, it's the way it is. No, it's not. It needs to be that which continually sickens us. Why? Because we hate people? No, it's because we hate those who would overturn the way of God, and that's exactly what these things do.

I mean, Hollywood. you know, is a good picture of Jezebel. Because they're seeking to seduce the minds of people, even in little ways. They don't have to come out and say, you ought to do this. They just put a little bit in there and make it where it's just kind of normal.

See, that's one of the worst things that ever happens is when these things become normal in our mind. Now it's already normal in the world. You're not gonna change the world. We're not preaching to the world in this sense. We're preaching to the people of God. Don't let these things become normal in your mind.

Because Jezebel says, ah, it's okay. It's all right. She teaches to commit fornication and eat things sacrificed to idols. Paul said there wasn't anything wrong with eating things sacrificed to idols. And there's not. As long as you don't have any regard to the idol. But when you start thinking, well, you know, I'm gonna eat this that's been sacrificed to the idol because it's sacrificed to the idol, then that's where the error comes in.

It's not eating meat's meat and all of these things. There's nothing evil of itself, but it's when we entertain the wickedness which is associated with it in our mind and we get to excusing it because we think, well, not a big thing. It's just like drunkenness.

You know, the Bible nowhere prohibits a man from drinking alcoholic beverages, but it most assuredly teaches men not to be drunken, does it not? Not to be overcome with these things. And so while we would never preach against the substance, We would certainly preach against being captured in the mind by any substance. Paul said that I'll use all things, but I'll use them lawfully, and I won't let any of them become my master.

It doesn't make any difference what it is. It can be a benign substance. I mean, a man can become addicted to all sorts of things. The things are not the problem. It's how we regard them. And Jezebel is that spirit of seeking to sway our thinking into saying, well, it's all right. No, it's not all right. The substance is not the problem. It's our regard to these substances.

And let our regard be to them. like that of the Lord Jesus Christ, to use them without abusing them and to have them ever before our mind as the danger that's in all of things that would capture our heart and mind and cause us to become a slave to them.

He said, 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. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and the hearts, and will give unto every one of you according to his words.

Now what's he speaking about there? He's talking about the fact that he will judge the wicked. He will judge all of these things that he warns the people of God about. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. We desire, Lord, tell us, teach us, help us. And he's saying, listen to me. He says, I'm gonna destroy them.

You'll notice even in the greatest of judgments, the Lord is a God of great mercy. There's a passage of scripture that says the Lord hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Now sometimes that's a hard one to understand because in another place it says he will laugh at the calamity of the wicked. He says he'll mock. when their trouble come. But yet, he says, I give them space to repent.

Men can't blame God if they're destroyed. The Lord Jesus Christ came not into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved. You see, the mercy of God is ever before us. And we must understand that. But we must understand that while his mercy is everlasting, it's everlasting to those whom he loves.

And he, in Peter's letter, he says God is not willing that any should perish. Now some have taken that, and out of context, and out of what he actually said, to mean that God doesn't want anybody to perish. Now, if he didn't want anybody to perish, you can be sure that nobody would perish. It's in God's purpose that the wicked will perish.

That is a fact. But it said he's long-suffering to usward. He's long-suffering to his people, not willing that any of us should perish. And so that's why we preach. That's why He's setting us forth here. That's why He says, I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and the hearts. Judgment must begin at the house of God. It will begin at the house of God, because the Lord will chasten those whom He loves. He's constantly chastening us. We don't have to wait. See, a lot of people think about chastening as if, well, I did something wrong, and now God's going to whip me. Well, he might, but he's constantly chastening his people.

See, he's keeping us back from the destruction that's right by the door. You know, like a child, sometimes they can't understand that a dog might bite them. I mean, he looks like you could just go up there and pet him, but he might bite. And so you tell him, don't do that.

And so it is that the Lord is the one who searches the reins and the hearts, the innermost being. And he says, I'll give to every one of you according to your works. Ooh, boy, we're in trouble now, aren't we? No, because if we be hidden in Christ, the works that he sees are perfect works.

Just like that brother Al was talking about David. He had a perfect heart. David didn't have a perfect heart, did he? Except as God regarded him to have a perfect heart. Just Lot. The Bible says Lot was a just man. Now look at Lot. Would you hold him up as some kind of paragon of virtue? No, he was a wicked man. But he was not wicked in God's sight. Because Jesus Christ bore His sin. And you see, that's what makes the people of God, the works of the people of God, to be acceptable to God. It's not what they're doing, but it's what Christ did for them. As he held the bat. And we thought we hit the ball. But then we found out, you know, when we got older, no, we didn't hit the ball. He hit the ball.

And He's the one who, by His works, we shall be judged. Oh, isn't that a glorious thing? I mean, do you want to stand before God? See, a lot of people won't stand before God in their works. They say, Lord, Lord, Lord, see what I've done. Oh, brother, do not hope to stand before God with what you've done because you are going to perish. You are exactly those whom He says, I will destroy them. with the breath of my mouth. But you see, those who are in Christ, they are those whose works are judged righteous, because Christ is righteous.

And that's what he says here, but unto you I say, and many of the rest, unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine. What doctrine is he talking about? The doctrine of Jezebel. the doctrine of the world, the doctrine of self-righteousness. He said, as many of you as have not this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak.

Now we have, on the one hand, been acquainted with the wickedness of Satan, have we not? We've listened to him from time to time. And we would have continued to listen to him and we would have continued to the point that we would go down the path of destruction were it not that God who's rich in mercy had snatched us out as a brand from the burning. We have not known the depths of Satan. Why? Because he snatched us back. Some have though. And he says, I will put upon you none other burden. None other burden than what? But that which ye have already. See, the Lord's not loading us with burdens. He's only loaded us with one thing.

He said, occupy till I come. He said, hold fast till I come. Keep the commandments. Oh, does that mean go out here and you're gonna perfectly obey every one of them? No. But it does mean that you're gonna have a regard to them. You're gonna keep them.

David said, thy word if I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Did David sin? Yes, he did. But he held the word of God in his heart. He knew when he'd sinned. He said, oh God. Be merciful to me. Remove not your Holy Spirit from me. He said, you're just in all that you do. And I'm a wicked man, Lord. I repent in dust and ashes, as Job said. He's not going to lay another burden on you. You don't have to measure up to some standard. He said, here's your standard. Hold fast till I come. Cling to Christ. Come to Christ. Believe Him. Trust Him. Hold on to His promises.

Hold fast till I come. He that overcometh and keepeth my works to the end, 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'll give Him the morning star, Let me ask you something, who's he talking about there? Absolutely. But God, listen to it. He said, he that overcometh, now who is the one that's overcome?

And keepeth my works to the end. The scripture says, and Jesus having loved his own, he loved them to the end. He said, I got one purpose for coming into the world, and that's to do my Father's will. And he said, this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should lose nothing. This is him. Dear brethren, and he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. Now brethren, if we be in Christ, we will reign together with him. Not by our power, but in him. He's our power. He's our king. You know, if they ask us, you know, how'd you get here? Say, we're with him. We're with him.

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 my father they shall be the nations of the earth scripture says are as a drop of the bucket as the dust of the balance Iran thinks they were big and bad they found out they weren't the United States thinks it's big and bad because it went over there and destroyed Iran but keep in mind that every nation is as a drop in the bucket.

The Lord doesn't need the United States. And when he's through with the United States, we'll be crumpled up like a piece of paper that's thrown into the dustbin of history if the Lord should tarry. I don't know what the Lord may do. But I know this, he doesn't need the United States.

People can go around boasting all about, well, we're doing God's work and all this. Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, the kings that destroyed the nation of Israel, they were doing the Lord's work. The Lord sent them to do the Lord's work and he destroyed that nation, which once he said was the apple of his eye. And there's no doubt the Lord has blessed the United States in a mighty way over the years. Incredibly so.

But we need not trust in chariots. I mean, don't be trusting in the greatest army in the world, you know. And it causes me fear every time I hear our president and these people get up there and talk about how mighty and forceful we are and all these things because in a moment, The Lord can bring us down to nothing.

Oh, that he might. Brethren, don't be caught up in all of that. See, that's an idol. To be caught up with the military might of a nation, that's idolatry. I don't know what the Lord may do. I know he'll do what he's gonna do. And he's showing his judgment in the earth right now upon those that lifted himself up in power. And he may do the same thing with us.

But he gave Christ power over the nations, every one of them. Doesn't make a difference what they got. They shall be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father, and I will give him the morning star. Who is the bright and the morning star? The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one that shines the brightest. The morning star is the one that shines the brightest in the heavens. And he is, and he said to his people, I will give you the morning star. He gives to us to be your chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people that ye should show the manifest glory of Christ in the earth.

Oh, that he might work in us, that he might teach us what Jezebel's tactics are, that we might flee from her and cast her out of our midst. Don't entertain her. Especially don't listen to her prophesy. You know, it's bad enough just to invite her to come in, let alone to sit and listen to her. The Lord will destroy her, the world, Scripture says that the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Now I don't know exactly what that means, but I got some kind of an idea. I don't think anything that you see right now will exist when the Lord comes to judge this world.

He's gonna destroy it. But dear brethren, those that be in Christ, they shall inhabit a place that He's going to prepare for. And he said, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. What a glorious king he is. And so as we keep going through this book, I want you to be looking. The triumph of Christ for the redemption of his people and the destruction of the wicked. Because it's on every page. And he will manifest his glory. And this is the revelation. of Jesus Christ. Well, thank the Lord that he is merciful and kind to all that call upon his name. There's not a sinner that's ever lived who has come to a place of seeking mercy at the hand of God. that he has not said, come, come to me. May the Lord give us a mind to seek him today.