Continuing with the scriptures
that we left off and remembering, now in this letter to the church
at Thyatira, which is a letter to all of us, we learn this truth. Be honest with me. Be honest
with them. Don't you hate a liar? Don't
you hate it when somebody lies to you? Just lied to you. You think, you lied to me. You
just told me something that just wasn't so. You destroyed my confidence
in you. I just, you know, a liar. Be honest. Be honest with men. Be honest with them about false
religion. Be honest with them about themselves.
Because when you're honest with them about themselves, you're
being honest about yourself. I mean, we're all dug out of
the same pit. Come on. Be honest with them about God.
Be honest with them about Almighty God. In that day, when all men,
all women stand before God Almighty, I'm telling you the truth. is
going to be set forth. Absolute truth. Don't you want
to hear the truth? Don't you want to know the truth?
The truth will set a man free. All right. Well, chapter 2, verse
20. Notwithstanding, I have a few
things against thee, because thou sufferest for you allow
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. 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, they repent of their deeds. Now, obviously, this woman
was more than likely truly a woman that was there. I mean, I don't
doubt that this church, John actually wrote to real churches.
And I don't doubt that there was actually a woman at that
church that the Lord refers to as Jezebel, Odious. odious woman. You know, there
are certain names that you just don't name your kids nowadays. Jezebel would be one of them.
You know, Jezebel. Judas. Judas wouldn't be a good
name. I mean, just the connotation
of what it said, symbolized. But this woman, though very possibly
was an actual woman. She's symbolic of all those that
would attempt to be spreading the false God-resenting, God-hating,
God-despising doctrine of spiritual fornication. Now, you know, whenever
we start talking about spiritual fornicators. What that is, taking
something. Number one, unfaithfulness. Just
unfaithfulness. That would be the number one
underlying word. You're talking about spiritual
fornication. Unfaithfulness. A man makes a
commitment to a woman. A woman makes a commitment to
a man. You stand before a preacher or
somebody And you say, I promise you, I promise before Almighty
God, I'm giving you my word. I'm giving you my word. I promise
you. Look into my eyes and listen
to my voice and I promise I'm going to be truthful to you.
Well, fornication, unfaithfulness. spiritual fornication. What is
the, and I've said this before, what is the total, the epitome? Almighty God says, I am the Lord. There's none other besides me.
Salvations of the Lord. Who said that? Almighty God said
that. Salvation is of the Lord. God Almighty saves men. God saves them. saves them by
grace, grants them faith to believe that He has graciously saved
them by having taken their sin and made Christ sin. Made Christ to be what His people
are. Made Him sin. And dealt with
their sin. Why? Because He's a just God.
Do you think that God is just going to sweep sin under the
rug? You know, they say, well, you
know, I believe the Lord loves everybody. He doesn't. He does
not. Well, I believe He does. Well,
He said He doesn't. He said, I hate all workers of
iniquity. He loved Jacob and hated Esau. I looked the word up. It means
hate, despised. God does not love all men. Who
said that? God said that. God said that. Spiritual adultery is when a
man or a woman absolutely, in the face of Almighty God, says
this, I don't believe that salvation is of the Lord. I believe that
salvation is by me taking what God offers me and I decide whether
or not I'm going to accept that or reject that. Free will doctrine,
the teaching that a man or a woman has the right or ability to accept
what God Almighty says. Free will doctrine is spiritual
adultery. That is taking what God says
and says, I spit in your face. I spit in your face. When those
men that the Lord Jesus Christ at that mock trial, they spit
on Him. And to despise what Almighty
God says and to say, I say. I say that I will. I will exalt myself. to the throne
of God. And if I'm saved, men say, it
will be because I decided that I accept it. It was left up to
me, and I had the last word. I had the last word. Now, am
I right? Am I telling you the truth? If
you think that a man or a woman has a free will, the will that
says, I can accept it or reject it, Then what you're saying is,
I have the last word in salvation. I have the last word. Now where
does that leave God without the last word? You see the heresy
of this? You see the despising of God's
word when Almighty God says, I kill and I make alive. I raise
up, I put down. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. The Scripture says that God chose
a people before the foundation of the world. 2 Thessalonians
2.13. How many times have we looked
at this Scripture? Paul says, We are bound to give
thanks to you, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. Now let me ask you this. Who
is lying? Either God is lying or men are
lying. And the Scripture says, ìLet
God be true and every man a liar.î The Scripture says, ìIíve got
a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel
that calls herself a prophetess to teach and seduce My servants
to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.î
This message of free will doctrine, and have you ever noticed that
that's the common denominator in all false religion? That's the common denominator.
It permeates that thought that man is the actual author of his
own salvation. Now, we don't really teach that.
What we say is, is that God died for everybody. And the Lord says,
I lay down my life for the sheep. He told some Pharisees, He said,
you don't believe because you're not my sheep. Well, obviously,
there were some that weren't His sheep, because He said, you're
not my sheep. So I know that there were some
that weren't. But He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Now, He said, the sheep. shall hear my voice, and they
will come to me, and all that the Father hath given me in eternal
election shall come to me." Well, let me ask you this. If some
don't come, if some men or some women don't come, what is the
conclusion of that? They weren't the sheep. They
weren't the sheep. This message of unfaithfulness
permeates into every false religion. It's the mother of all false
religions as a common denominator. Free will, that man is the author,
he's the finisher of his salvation. It is the message that denies
God's sovereignty, God's will, God's purpose, and God's mercy. Every false preacher that preaches,
every man, every woman that believes the lie of man's ability, every
man, every woman that believes the lie of man's sovereignty. I mean, you know, somewhere along
the line, we've just got to be honest about it. I mean, it's
wishy-washy. Man really is the last word,
and God says, I'm the author and finisher of faith. Somewhere
along the line, these things don't jive with the Word of God. So somewhere along the line,
we're going to find that every false preacher who preaches and
believes that man is the author of his eternal destiny, Free
will. I've told you this before. Free
will. Bound by nothing. Bound by nothing. Free. Free. That's what free. Bound by nothing.
Man's free will. Every man that believes that
over God's will, listen, is a Jezebel. He's a Jezebel. She's a Jezebel. She is a spiritual fornicator
against God because they despise what God says, they despise His
will. The Lord said in Matthew 7.15,
Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves. How do you know who they
are? That's a good question. How do
you know? Galatians 1.9, Paul the Apostle
speaking says, as we said before, So say I now again, if any man,
who penned, who was the actual man that penned the book of Ephesians?
Paul the Apostle. How did he pen it? Under the
inspiration of the Spirit of God. Holy men wrote as they were
moved on by the Spirit of God. God Almighty, all Scripture is
given by the breath of God, inspiration. the breath of God. Men say, well,
you know the scriptures are inconsistent. No, no, you're inconsistent and
I'm inconsistent, but not this Word. This Word is not going
to return void. It's going to accomplish the
purpose for which it was sent. Now, let me tell you what this
message is right here. This message is sent out by God's
direction to call out God's sheep. And it has one promise to all
that disobey it. But this message sets forth that
Almighty God has a people, and He's going to save them, Neal.
He's going to save them. He's going to. That's what this
whole book of Revelation is about. God is sending this message.
Paul, the apostle, used by God and wrote the book of Ephesians
and Colossians and Thessalonians, too, that we're bound to give
thanks. Paul. Paul wrote that. Paul penned
the words, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God in Ephesians
1.4, that he chose us before the foundation of the world.
Paul wrote that. Paul says in Galatians 1.9, as
we've said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed. Believe this or not. I believe what I'm telling you
is absolutely so. I love you. I love you. I want
to be truthful with you. I want to tell you the truth.
I want to tell you the truth. Search these Scriptures and find
out if these things are so. Find out if it's right. I'm not
trying to be mean. I don't want to be mean. I told
you last week, I hate confrontations. I hate that. I'll walk three
miles around something to avoid a confrontation. I really will.
I want everybody to like me. I really do. I do. But when it
comes to these scriptures right here, how many of you have told
me, you know Marvin, you step out of this pulpit and it's like
you turn into a different person. I like a joke. I enjoy laughing. I enjoy picking at you. But when
I step behind this pulpit, it's all business. Why? Because this
is God's Word. This is God's message. And I
strive to find out what has God got to say. Because I'm going
to tell you something, my eternal soul rests on what God says.
Me. Me and you and you and you. God said this. And when I'm dead
and gone out of this world, this Word is going to remain. It's
not going to change. It's not going to deviate. It's
going to accomplish. Paul says, if any man preaches
any other gospel, let him be accursed. Verse 21, I gave her
space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not. Listen,
God Almighty is not going to be blamed for man's disobedience. If a man shuns this gospel and
says, I am not going to believe that. I'm going to do everything
in the world I can to disprove it. Let me tell you something. I've tried to disprove it. The
first time I heard this, I thought, no, wait a minute. Let me find
John 3.16. Whenever I found out what John
3.16 actually meant, I thought, you know what? I see that Almighty
God is right. He said, ìI gave her space to
repent.î Verse 22, ìBehold, I will cast her into a bed, and them
that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except
they think differently, repent of their deeds. Rebels against
Almighty God will be cast into a bed of anguish.î And all who
believe and receive false free will doctrine and die in that
state will be damned with it. I'm telling you, men say that
free willism, the thoughts that a man has the right and the will
and the ability to accept or reject what Almighty God has
to say. I can say this, the Scripture says in John 1.13, which were born, born from above,
not of blood, they weren't born saved. Nobody is born saved. Everybody is born lost. Everybody. Only one man born in this world
conceived of the Holy Ghost. came to this world perfect on
his own account, which were born not of blood, nor of the will
of the flesh. I pray Almighty God save my family. I've got some in my family that
don't know God. How do I know? They don't believe
the gospel. They don't believe God. They
were born not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man. Somebody says, man has a free
will. God says you don't. How were
they born? They were born of God. Born from
above. Born. Verse 23. I will kill her children with
death, and all the churches shall know that I am He which searches
the reins and hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according
to your works. The church is taught. that the
Lord knows the thoughts, the motives, the purposes of every
man, every woman. You know, there's nothing to
me that is more comforting than to look into the Word of God
and say, you know what, this is what God says, let's say that.
I don't want to try to expand it. Yes, I do, but expand on
it. That's the word I'm looking for. How am I going to expand the
Word of God. But to take what Almighty God
says is so. God shows mercy on whom He will
show mercy. I pray God calls you out of darkness. I pray that Almighty God have
mercy on me. You know, we're all in need of
Him. All of us. You know, the need
doesn't start at that first row back. It starts right here in
this pulpit. I need God to have mercy on me. The illegitimate
children of this false prophetess is going to suffer God's judgment
in absolute righteousness. The Lord says, I will kill her
children with death. He's saying they will be put
to death with death. That's the literal. They'll be
put to death with death. 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." The Lord, in His absolute mercy,
has kept His people from seducing lies. He keeps them. He keeps
them. Do you think that you've I was reading something the other
day, and it was saying in this article, it was written in a
book called, I think it was called Christianity Today. Brother Henry
gave me an article that was written in there, and what it was saying
is, it was talking about Calvinism as having a real comeback, is
what it's saying. That's basically Calvinism. you
know, setting forth the doctrines of five points of Calvinism,
total depravity, unconditional election, and the other three.
The state was having a comeback, and as I read all these things,
they were saying some really good things. I mean, they were
arguing with their constituents about, you know, but the crust
of the argument was this. those that were having the comeback,
the belief in the revival of Calvinism. What they were saying
was, this is just something that I've added to my long list of
information. They were saying, I was converted
when I was in a free will church. I mean, I was saved back then. I've been saved for years and
years and years. But later in life, I heard the
gospel, the doctrines of grace, and I've kind of added that too.
And so now I'm just smarter. No. If God Almighty saves a man,
He doesn't save him under false religion. He does not save a
man. I grew up in a freewill church. I grew up. Well, first I was
a Roman Catholic. And I came up and went to confession
and all this kind of stuff. And then later, my mother and
dad went over to another church, and they taught. It was just
another doctrine, but it was still free will. It had the same
basis. And then years later, and I walked
down an aisle, and I shook the preacher's hand, and I was baptized. But I believed all along that
I was the one. I decided. Then one day, Almighty
God, on my road to Damascus, through His Word, through a preacher,
said to me in power and in mercy, I'm the one you're persecuting.
And you know what my thought was? Who are you? You're not
the God that I've heard about all my life. You're not just
God. When God Almighty calls a man
or a woman out of darkness, He does it by the preaching of the
gospel. Paul said in Romans 1.16, I'm
not ashamed of this gospel. Why? It's the power of God under
salvation. God saves people. He saves his
elect. He saves sinners under the preaching
of the gospel, the truth. Men are not saved in false religion
and then later come and just kind of add this to them and
say, well, look what else I found out. I was saved here as free
will, but now I've added this to my, you know, baggy of stuff. If God saves a man, He saves
him by the preaching of Christ. God Almighty saves men by truth. Truth. The Lord said in that
twenty-fourth verse, I say unto you, unto the rest in Thyatira,
that have not this doctrine, and which have not known the
depths of Satan as they speak, I won't put any other burden
upon you, none other burden. God Almighty mercifully measures
the burden of His chastisement according to His good pleasure. But that which ye have already,
hold fast till I come." Seize and retain. You that believe,
listen to what the Spirit says to the church. Seize and retain. Hold on. Hold on. How? In the strength of the Lord. I can tell you that. Not by your
own strength, because you don't have any. But Almighty God that
commands His people to do a certain thing, it is God that worketh
in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. If you believe
Him, you know why you believe Him? Because He's faithful to
keep you by His power through faith. Yesterday's faith is yesterday's
faith. I need faith today. I need God
Almighty to give something for me right now. When I started
preaching this morning, I need God to keep me right now. I need
a continual flowing of His mercy and grace to me right now. It wasn't that He gave me something. Mitch backed a few years ago,
and I'm doing the best I can with it, just kind of hanging
in there. It's a long road, but boy, I
tell you what, If Almighty God doesn't keep me right now, I
don't have any hope. None. Hold fast till I come. Hold fast. Hold in the strength
of the Lord. Paul says in 2 Timothy 1.13,
the sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love
which is in Jesus Christ. Hold fast. And God's people do. They do. It's the greatest blessing
to see the mercy of Almighty God that keeps His people. Keeps
them. He just keeps them. They got
up today believing God. What a miracle of God's grace. I watch these fellows on television.
You know, if you send off and get this miracle spring water
and follow the directions. Get this little thing of water,
and he says, you know, he got the spring water and followed
the directions. Well, if it's a miracle, I mean,
they talk about miracles. Let me tell you about a miracle.
If you that believe are here today, that's a miracle. That's a miracle of God's grace. That was beyond anything that
you were able to do. Hold fast. Verse 26. And he that overcometh and keepeth
my words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations."
He that overcometh, he that is victorious, a victorious overcomer
by Christ, by the Lord Jesus Christ, the overcomer himself. He who is our victor. He whose righteousness in which
we're clothed, you that overcome, and keepeth my works. It doesn't say words, though
that is so. But keepeth his works. Not my
works, God's works. Good works. Good works. And there's none good but God.
But good works that are wrought in God's people, good works,
God's works. Do you think it's a light thing
that you believe God? That you have faith to believe
this gospel? Do you think it's a light thing?
Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Without faith
in Christ, by God's mercy, God's grace, without faith, it's impossible
to please God. I don't care what you do. I don't
care how much you give. I don't care. Without faith. Without faith. In this message,
in the Christ of this message right here, it's impossible. It's not improbable that you
might be able to get it. It's impossible to please God. He that keepeth my works, keepeth
them unto the end. It's not how a man starts. It's
not how a man starts. It is not how a man starts, it's
how a man ends. Well, I remember back years ago,
I used to be in church and I don't really care for it anymore, but
I remember years ago, that's what men say. It's not how a
man starts, he that endures to the end. And how's a man going
to endure to the end? You know this. You know the answer
before I even say it. He keeps you. He keeps you. Well, Scott, you know why you're
here today? Because God kept you here. But for the grace of
God, you'd leave just like any of us. We'd all leave. If God didn't keep us, He keepeth
my works unto the end. will I give power over the nations
will reign with Christ. That's what it means. Verse 27, 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. It is the Lord through the Lord
himself. that is said in Psalm 2 verse
8 and 9, ìAsk of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them
in pieces like a potterís vessel.î Like a potterís vessel. What
vessels? Now, weíre all vessels. All of
us are vessels. Weíre all vessels. Iím a vessel,
youíre a vessel. Now, let me show you in closing, Romans 9,
let me show you what God says concerning all vessels. If there's anything that I want
to do before I finish preaching every time is make sure that
I've set forth this one thing. Almighty God is God. He's God. I'm telling you, when I say he's
God, he is God, sovereign God. For saying that God is God is
enough. And if he's God, I'm not and
you're not. Okay? For all vessels, Romans
9, 21, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump
and we're all out of the same lump, to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor. Let me ask you this, and let's
just be honest in closing. Did that scripture right there,
did it ask this question? Doesn't the potter, doesn't God
Almighty have the power, the ability, the will, the purpose? If I have the power over everything
that belongs to me, that means I've got it. And if you want
to do anything with it, you've got to ask me. Hath not the potter
power over the clay of the same lump... Where did we come from? Same lump. Same lump. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump to make, to produce, to be. To be is what it means. to be
one vessel under honor, what God calls honorable, and another
under dishonor. What if God, willing to show
His wrath, what if God, willing to show His justice, and to make His power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted,
or if you have in your Bible in the middle, That word fitted
right there means made up. What if God is willing to allow
a man or a woman to go through this life? He's long-suffering. What if God, willing to show
His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long-suffering? He just allowed a Jezebel to
go right through this life and do just exactly what she wanted
to do. all the while spitting, despising the face, the Word
of Almighty God. What if God, willing to make
His power known, endured with much longsuffering? Just let
them do what they want to do. I heard Brother Henry say one
time, he says, don't argue with man. Don't argue with man over
the gospel. I'm not going to argue with you. I just don't
want to argue with you. I'm not going to argue with you.
Leave them alone. preach the gospel and let God
do what God's going to do. I can't convince you anyway.
What if God, willing to show His wrath and make His power
known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath made up
to destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His
glory on the vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto
glory? Now, who's lying? Who's lying? Somebody's lying. And I'll tell
you this, it's not God. It's not Almighty God. Verse
27 says, He shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels
of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I have received
my Father. And I, verse 28, will give him
the morning star. To those that by His grace have
overcome, we shall forever possess by sight the Lord Jesus Christ,
our eternal light and our eternal glory. To He that overcomes,
to those kept by the power of God Himself, by the mercy and
grace and compassion of God himself to those that overcome, I'll
give him the morning star, 2 Peter 1.19. Just a few verses back,
2 Peter 1.19. Peter says we have also a more
sure word of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well, that ye
take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until
the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. That day
star, the Lord Jesus Himself that will introduce us in that
day into the glorious day of eternal bliss. Verse 29, He that
hath an ear. If God has given you an ear,
the Lord says the seeing eye and the hearing ear. The Lord
gives them both. He that hath an ear, let him
hear. Let him hear with understanding.
Let him hear with love. Let him hear with an understanding
of God's mercy and grace to him. But the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
He who speaks even now to God's people's heart, let him hear
what the Spirit says unto the churches. Well, so concludes
the second chapter, and Lord willing, next time we'll look
at the summary of the third chapter.