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Jesus praised a church for growing love, faith, service, and endurance, then said those good works could not cover the false teachings they’d been willing to tolerate. What kind of person can appear spiritual, claim to speak for God, and still lead believers into compromise with the culture around them? This message from Jesus’ letter to Thyatira shows how a congregation should test anyone who claims to speak for God, why sexual integrity and avoiding idolatry still matter, and what it means to hold fast until Christ returns.
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://www.medicallake.church/sermons/don-t-ignore-dandelions
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📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://www.medicallake.church/sermons/don-t-ignore-dandelions
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00It's getting colder, have you noticed?
00:01Today's not a good example because it's a pretty warm day today.
00:04But it's been getting colder in the morning when we get up.
00:06And I love the fall.
00:08I mean, I really like the fall when the trees change and everything.
00:12However, I think I like spring better.
00:14I just like spring better.
00:16You have the resurgence of nature after its winter sleep.
00:21You've got the birds are singing.
00:24The days grow longer and they grow warmer.
00:27And the flowers begin blooming.
00:30I mean, you know how it is.
00:32You go out outside into the front and you're enjoying the flowers outside when you notice another flower.
00:39But this one's not in the flower bed.
00:41This one's in the middle of your yard and it's yellow.
00:44All right?
00:45You know what I'm talking about?
00:47You know.
00:48And you say, well, it's just the first one.
00:51I mean, it's just one.
00:53I can allow it to be.
00:55I can tolerate it in my yard.
00:57I can just ignore it and be indifferent towards it.
00:59But you know well, as well as I do, what happens when you ignore a dandelion.
01:04They just go all over your front yard or backyard for that matter.
01:10You cannot allow the dandelion to stay there.
01:15You can't tolerate it unless you want a bunch of dandelions in your yard.
01:19You have to take care of it.
01:21Action is necessary to do something about it.
01:23For a church to stay healthy, it must feed on the right spiritual nutrients or else the body, the church
01:32body will become unhealthy, diseased, if you want to say that.
01:37When any bad or heretical teaching enters into a church, it can spread like dandelions spread in your yard.
01:44I mean, what I mean is teaching is that's not according to what has been revealed to us in the
01:50New Testament and all of the Old Testament as well.
01:54When you allow that teaching into a church, it begins to spread and it begins going.
01:58And when it enters a church, it needs to be uprooted.
02:03Now, we're talking about the teaching.
02:05We're not talking about necessarily people.
02:06Obviously, people are involved in the teaching.
02:08But the teaching is what I'm focusing on right now.
02:10Now, a church cannot allow or cannot tolerate bad teaching, for that is one of the signs of a Jesus
02:17church, and that is correct doctrinal teaching.
02:20We saw in the church of Ephesus, he praised them for their orthodoxy, that they had really good doctrinal teaching,
02:25that Jesus' word was being taught.
02:27Now, we're coming to the seven churches of the Revelation.
02:32We're on the church of Thyatira.
02:35Thyatira.
02:35I'll try not to slip an extra R in there like I did in the first service.
02:38Sorry.
02:39It's Thyatira, not Thyatira.
02:41I'll do the best I can.
02:43Sometimes it just pops out.
02:44The church of Thyatira.
02:46And what we're going to see here in the chapter is...
02:49Did I say it again?
02:50Okay.
02:53I was just checking.
02:54No.
02:56That is terrible.
02:57That's terrible.
02:59Thyatira.
03:00Okay.
03:00I got it.
03:01Here we're going to...
03:02I hope I got it.
03:03Okay.
03:03We're going to see here.
03:04Jesus' church must be united, holy, and blameless.
03:09So, allowing teaching contrary to God's will divides the church and destroys her testimony.
03:15Other people in the community.
03:18Thyatira.
03:20Why is it that churches seem to be unwilling to address bad teaching that comes into the church?
03:26Somehow, we think that we can just ignore it, and maybe not too many people will pay attention
03:32to the bad teaching, and we don't have to worry about it.
03:34However, it's like a dandelion in your front yard.
03:37When we allow teaching contrary to the Word of God into the service, it just continues to
03:41grow and spread throughout the entire body.
03:45So, Thyatira.
03:46Sorry, Teresa.
03:47I kind of got ahead of myself there.
03:49Thyatira.
03:49Notice, as we move up from Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, I'll get it, Thyatira,
03:55and we're moving down now southeast back down to Laodicea, which we will stop.
03:59That's of the seven churches here located in what is modern Turkey today in Asia Minor
04:05in the New Testament.
04:07It's very possible, if you remember a story out of the book of Acts, Acts 16, a lady named
04:12Lydia gets saved, and she's from Thyatira.
04:15So, maybe she's the one who carried the gospel back to Thyatira and shared it with her people
04:20of her own town, and perhaps she's the origin of the church.
04:23Other than that, we really don't know.
04:24You can see here in Acts 16.
04:26On the Sabbath day, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was
04:31a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.
04:36One who heard us was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple
04:42goods, which Thyatira is known as, and was a worshiper, who was a worshiper of God.
04:47The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.
04:50She gets saved.
04:51Her whole household gets saved.
04:53She goes back to Thyatira.
04:54Perhaps she's the origin of the church.
04:56Other than that, we really don't know where the church came from.
04:59Thyatira, as you saw, was kind of an economic hub.
05:03You have cities like Pergamon, Sardis, Magnesia, Smyrna, all positioned around this, where they
05:09kind of traded goods between these cities, so it was an economic hub.
05:12It was known for artesian guilds, so whether it's working with bronze, whether it's working
05:18with wool or leather, all the artesian guilds were very strong in the city of Thyatira.
05:23Lots of guilds.
05:24And that played a role with the Christians who were then requested by the guilds to pay
05:30homage to the emperor by giving incense on the altar for Caesar as Lord and God.
05:36The guilds required that.
05:37So, that's a problem for the Christians, and they're going to have to deal with that
05:40issue, which we saw already in one of the other churches.
05:44So, where is this letter going to?
05:47Verse 18 is the destination.
05:48And even when he tells us what the destination, and then he adds an attribute of who he is,
05:53Jesus, from chapter 1.
05:55So, look at verse number 18, chapter 2 of the Revelation, verse 18.
05:59So, open your Bibles, and we'll look at it together.
06:01It's just God's word.
06:02And to the angel of the church in Thyatira, write the words of the Son of God, the one
06:08with power and authority, who has eyes like a flame of fire.
06:12He sees everything, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
06:17And again, that comes from what John saw in chapter 1 of this one, the resurrected, exalted
06:22Christ.
06:23So, he has eyes that can see, and he has feet that are burnished bronze, pulling from chapter
06:301.
06:30The Son of God only used one time here in the Revelation, and it's used about his power and
06:35authority.
06:36Typically, in the Revelation, we see Jesus as the Lamb.
06:39Here, he's called the Son of God.
06:43Jesus' eyes see all, and he's quick to exercise justice or judgment.
06:49That's his burnished bronze feet speak of the judgment, but his eyes see everything.
06:54Remember, he's the one that's walking in the midst of his church.
06:57All seven of these churches, we were told that he's walking in the midst of these churches,
07:01of the seven golden lampstands.
07:03He's walking.
07:04He sees it.
07:05He knows what's happening at Medical Lake Community Church.
07:08He knows what's happening as a church body, and he also knows what's happening to us individually.
07:12He sees it all.
07:14He's paying attention.
07:16In Psalm 11, in 1 Peter, we see this, the Lord is in his holy temple.
07:21The Lord's throne is in heaven.
07:23His eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
07:27And Peter says this, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are
07:32open to their prayer.
07:33But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
07:36So, Jesus is looking at his church, and he's going to tell them the great things that they're
07:39doing.
07:40And then he says, you know, there's a couple of things you need to be paying attention
07:43to that you're not paying attention to.
07:45He sees it.
07:46He knows.
07:46He cares for his church, for he is the Lord of his church.
07:50So, the church is known for several things that they were doing really well.
07:54Look at verse number 19.
07:56Here's the commendation.
07:58He says, I know.
07:59Remember, he sees all things.
08:00I know your works, your love, and faith, and service, and patient endurance, and that
08:07your latter works exceed the first.
08:10In other words, they seem to be growing in these works, growing in works of love, works
08:15of service.
08:16They're growing.
08:17In fact, it was better than it was at the beginning in their life.
08:22Faith, faithfulness.
08:23They were being dependable.
08:25Service, their ministry to one another.
08:27They were serving one another well.
08:28They had love for each other, that agape kind of love, that love that wants the best
08:32for the other person's life.
08:34And they had patience, endurance, which means they were steadfast in their commitment and
08:38their loyalty to Jesus.
08:39And Jesus says, I see that, and I commend you.
08:43This is fabulous what you're doing.
08:45Thank you for your dedication and your service, your love, and your faith.
08:50They were spiritually growing.
08:53They were spiritually growing.
08:55In fact, they're just the opposite of the church at Ephesus.
08:58Remember the church at Ephesus?
08:59They had sound teaching, but they had lost their first love.
09:05Now we have a church that has love abounding, but they have bad teaching that's in the midst
09:09of the church.
09:09Just the opposite of the church of Ephesus.
09:11Just the opposite.
09:14Now we're going to see in verses 20 to 23, the rebuke.
09:18So he tells about the good things they're doing.
09:19And I like, isn't that good to say about the good things they're doing first?
09:22And then they say, but I have a couple of things I need to talk to you about because
09:25he sees everything.
09:26So look at verses 20 to 23.
09:28This is what he has.
09:29This is his rebuke of the church, his church.
09:32But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.
09:40So she calls herself a prophetess.
09:41Jesus didn't.
09:43And is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food
09:49sacrificed to idols.
09:50Sound like what Balaam was doing.
09:51Remember?
09:52We talked about that, what Balaam did to the children of Israel.
09:54We saw that earlier, teachings of Balaam.
09:57He says, I gave her time to repent.
09:59In other words, Jesus has already worked with her, but she refuses to repent of her sexual
10:04immorality.
10:05Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her, I will
10:11throw into great tribulation unless they repent of their works.
10:15You see the mercy that's being extended?
10:17It's not like I'm going to come in judgment immediately.
10:19I'm coming first with mercy.
10:21Repent.
10:21I don't want to come in judgment.
10:23I will, but repent first.
10:25I like that.
10:27Unless they repent of her works.
10:29And I will strike her children dead.
10:32This is serious.
10:36I will kill them if they won't repent.
10:41And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give
10:46to each of you according to your works.
10:50So, he's got something he needs to address, something that's going on in the midst of the
10:54church, something that's happening.
10:56They have this woman named Jezebel.
10:58Now, Jezebel, the name is likely symbolic.
11:01It's supposed to point to the woman that held that name in the Old Testament.
11:04I can't imagine anyone naming their daughter Jezebel.
11:07I mean, I suppose it's possible, but highly unlikely.
11:10So, it's just a metaphor going back to the Jezebel that we know in the Old Testament.
11:15And you say, well, who's that lady?
11:17What was she like?
11:18Here's a couple of examples.
11:20First King 16.
11:21And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son
11:26of
11:26Nabat, he took for his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbal, king of the Sidonians, and went and
11:33served Baal and worshipped him.
11:35So, she comes not from Israel.
11:37She comes from outside Israel.
11:39The king brings her into Israel, and she's corrupting Israel from within.
11:43And 2 Kings 9.
11:44And when Jerom saw Jehu, he said, is it peace, Jehu?
11:48He answered, what peace can there be so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother
11:54Jezebel are so many?
11:56This tells us the character of this woman.
11:58She began trying to seduce Israel from within Israel.
12:01She wanted to kill the prophets of Yahweh.
12:04She wanted to silence anyone that would speak in favor, and she wanted to promote Baal worship
12:10among the nation.
12:12She worshipped Canaanite gods.
12:14She wanted to kill the prophets of Yahweh.
12:16She tried to kill Elijah.
12:18She framed Naboth so her husband could get his vineyard.
12:21She was not a nice lady.
12:23She was very wicked.
12:24This lady professes to be a Christian.
12:28She calls herself a prophetess, which means a person who is receiving oracles from God,
12:33a prophet or a prophetess.
12:34She believes she's a Christian.
12:37Here we see that Satan is not attacking from outside, but is spewing his poison from within
12:44the church at Thyatira.
12:46It's not like someone came from the outside in.
12:48It's someone from within the church is spewing out this false teaching and teaching people
12:53to eat meat sacrificed to idols, idolatry, and to do sexual immorality, not no sexual integrity.
13:02She was trying to get the church to yield to the cultural practice around them that were
13:07contrary to the word of God.
13:09See, this is 98 AD when the revelation was written.
13:12All of the other New Testament has already been penned.
13:14Most of them have all of the letters that have been transferred around to the churches.
13:18Thyatira is not far from Ephesus.
13:20There's works to Ephesus.
13:22These writings are already out there.
13:25They know what God expects.
13:28She wanted them to go contrary to what has been revealed in areas especially of sexual
13:33integrity.
13:34Now, some things these are just sexual immorality or idolatry are just metaphors for spiritual
13:41adultery.
13:41And that's true.
13:42And the Old Testament's used like that because Yahweh was Israel's husband and her being unfaithful
13:48to him was spiritual adultery.
13:49So, it is viewed like that.
13:50However, we see a problem in the New Testament all over the place with sexual immorality.
13:55When we see the list that Paul makes and says, put off the old man and put on the new
14:00man,
14:00the old man, number one usually on the list is sexual immorality.
14:04So, it's also that problem.
14:06So, it's a both and issue.
14:08So, it appears that she is, Jezebel is encouraging and advising Christians to eat meat, sacrifice
14:14to idols, claiming that an idol was of no consequence.
14:18Don't worry about it.
14:19It's not really true.
14:20God knows it's not true.
14:22So, to keep your job at the guild, then you need to go ahead and go ahead and eat this
14:26meat, sacrifice to idols and don't do anything about it.
14:28And you know, if the meeting gets a little bit loose at the end, it's okay.
14:32God understands.
14:33It's what she's saying.
14:36Leon Morris said this,
14:53Remember what we talked about before?
14:54If you belong to one of these guilds, then once a year you had to go and sprinkle incense
15:00on the altar to Caesar and claim he is Lord and God.
15:03They would write you a certificate.
15:04It was good for one year.
15:06You'd put it in your pocket.
15:07And when you went to work at another place, you would show them the certificate and said,
15:11I'm a dutiful city and citizen of Rome.
15:13I've done what I'm supposed to do.
15:14Well, if you're a Christian, you're not going to do that.
15:18None of us are going to offer incense to Caesar as Lord and God.
15:21So, none of us are going to do that.
15:21So, none of us have their certificate.
15:24How are we going to get a job?
15:25How are we going to feed our families?
15:28She's saying, don't worry about it.
15:29Just go participate.
15:30God understands.
15:31It's not that big of a deal.
15:33Well, she was trying to lead the church into compromise, compromising with the culture
15:38around them.
15:39And again, we talked about last week, the culture around us, not everything in our culture
15:43is ungodly.
15:43We have a lot of good things in our culture in America.
15:46However, we have to have the discernment to know what is ungodly in our culture and not
15:50to participate in that.
15:53She taught them to compromise with the pagan culture and the practice of the guilds so that
15:57Christians could keep their job and not lose their lives.
16:02Commonly, when you went to a festival, you went to a meeting or a festival of the guild,
16:06you had a dinner, and then afterwards, things got a little crazy, got a little loose.
16:10It's okay, she's saying.
16:13She's saying that Christians can continue to call themselves Christians while still engaging
16:16in immoral pagan revelry.
16:18It's okay.
16:19God understands.
16:20Go for it.
16:23She held that the idea that things done with the body outside of the spirit inside are not
16:28a big deal.
16:29It's a very Greek thought.
16:30It's a very Gnostic way of thinking.
16:31It's flesh is evil, spirit is good, so whatever I do with my body really doesn't matter as
16:35long as I keep my spirit pure.
16:36I'm not sure how you can do that.
16:38How can you defile your body and keep your spirit pure at the same time?
16:40I'm not sure, but that's the thinking.
16:44So we, all Christians, must answer this question, which cultural standards and practices can
16:50I accept without severing my loyalty and faithfulness to Christ?
16:54And that calls for discernment.
16:56We have to know, what does the Word of God say about certain things?
17:00Should I participate in this?
17:02Ought I not to participate in this?
17:03And that's a discernment.
17:04And we have to give each other grace.
17:06You may come down on a different place, and I would come down.
17:08Now, I'm not talking about sinful things.
17:14What can I do in my culture that will not sever me from my loyalty and faithfulness to Christ?
17:19We all live in the same world as our neighbors do.
17:22We encounter the same problems mostly that our neighbors do.
17:25However, you and I come from a biblical point of view when we're trying to answer the questions
17:29of life.
17:30So we want to approach it from a biblical point of view.
17:34And some at Thyatira were conforming to the cultural practices like their unbelieving
17:39neighbors for they had forgotten essential biblical teaching about sexual immorality and idolatry.
17:45I mean, stuff we talked about last week in Colossians and 1 John.
17:49In fact, we are told that Paul told the Colossians that covetousness is another form of idolatry.
17:55It is idolatry.
17:55Look at Colossians 3.
17:57Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.
17:59See what I told you about lists?
18:01First one on the list, sexual immorality.
18:04It's obviously a problem humans have.
18:07Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
18:13So coveting something that my neighbor, coveting my neighbor's house, my neighbor's wife, my
18:18neighbor's property, my neighbor's cattle, and the Ten Commandments, that's idolatry.
18:23And then John, every time he spoke, the Apostle John, he would end his conversation with this
18:28phrase right here, little children, keep yourself from idols.
18:31In fact, everyone knew who heard John speak, the age of John, Apostle, they knew exactly
18:35how he was going to conclude his speech.
18:37Every time, little children, keep yourself from idols.
18:40So you notice she claims to be a prophetess, which claims that she's speaking on behalf
18:45of God, that she's speaking for God, that God is giving her information, and she's speaking
18:50about it.
18:51She's claiming to be a prophetess.
18:52So therefore, those who accept her position as a prophetess would think that God is speaking
18:57through her, is the idea.
19:00And when someone says they're speaking on behalf of God, that God is speaking through them,
19:05they must be tested.
19:07And let it start with me.
19:10I stand up here every Sunday, and I speak on behalf of God.
19:13I'm trying to help you understand what God has written in his word, and I want you to
19:18test me.
19:20Take this word, and you check.
19:22If I am off, you come to me and see me.
19:25Anyone who claims to speak in the name of God must be tested.
19:301 Thessalonians says this,
19:32Do not despise prophecies.
19:34Do not despise prophecies, but test everything.
19:39Is it really true?
19:40Does it align with what we know is revealed in the word of God?
19:43Is that really the character and commitment of God, his will, or is it not?
19:51Hold fast what is good.
19:53After it's been tested, is it right?
19:54Is it God's word?
19:55Hold fast to that.
19:56If it's not, don't hold fast to it.
19:59Abstain from every form of evil.
20:02For a true prophet who speaks in the name of the Lord, especially in the Old Testament,
20:06we see the prophet speaking.
20:07These are God's words.
20:09These are infallible words.
20:10They're to be trusted when a prophet speaks.
20:14Do you notice what the problem is here?
20:17It wasn't that necessarily she's in the church.
20:18That's an issue.
20:19But did you see what the problem was?
20:22They were tolerating her.
20:25They knew about it.
20:26It wasn't like it was done in secret, like no one in the church knew what was going on.
20:30They knew what she was doing.
20:33They knew her teaching.
20:34She was in the church, and they're tolerating it.
20:39They're allowing it to happen.
20:42You allowed this, or you let it be, or you tolerated this idea.
20:47And it's actually, which is interesting, it's written in a singular form, and so it's unsure
20:50whether that Jesus is addressing the pastor of the church, you leadership tolerated this,
20:56or if he's speaking to the entire church body, you tolerated this.
21:00You allowed this to stay.
21:02You knew about it.
21:03You didn't do anything about it.
21:05Warren Wearsby said,
21:06No amount of loving and sacrificial works can compensate for tolerance of evil.
21:13You let it happen.
21:15You let that dandelion continue to grow in your front yard, and look now, you've got 50 of them.
21:22You tolerated it.
21:24They knew what she was teaching.
21:26They knew it violated the known word of God.
21:28It's, again, at 98, everything's already been written.
21:31This is the last writing for us in the New Testament.
21:35It's already been revealed to us.
21:36They knew the teaching.
21:38They knew what God expected out of them.
21:40But they let her continue with this teaching in the church.
21:44They tolerated it.
21:47Now, when you read about this, what was Jesus' response to this?
21:50First of all, he asked her to repent.
21:52Okay, she still didn't.
21:54Then he asked her followers, her children, to repent.
21:56And that's what he called on them.
21:58What happens if they don't repent?
21:59Is he just slightly perturbed at them?
22:02And what does the text say?
22:03He says, I will strike them dead.
22:06This is serious.
22:07This is not something that we just say, oh, it's not a big deal.
22:09It is a big deal to Jesus.
22:11He's asking them.
22:12He's giving them mercy.
22:13Repent of this teaching.
22:14It is not according to my will or my word.
22:17However, if you will not repent, I will strike your children dead, is what he said.
22:21He's taking this very seriously.
22:25Okay, so what ought the church have done?
22:27What could the church have done?
22:29They knew it was there.
22:30They tolerate it.
22:31They allowed it to be.
22:33What could they have done?
22:34Well, there's actually a reference of Paul talking to a church about the church having
22:39a similar problem, not exactly the same, but a similar problem with the individual in
22:43the church, and he tells the church what to do.
22:47It's found in 1 Corinthians chapter 5.
22:52Paul's writing to the church of Corinth.
22:54He said, it's actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you.
22:59Again, go figure.
23:00Sexual integrity is an issue, obviously.
23:03And of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.
23:09Now, let's stop for a second.
23:10Let's hope this is a second or a third wife or a fourth wife and not his mother, because
23:15that is, ooh, yucky.
23:17So, I'm assuming it's, you know, in those days, they had multiple wives, probably younger.
23:22The son is probably, he coveted his father's wife, and they had sexual immorality.
23:30Okay, and you are arrogant.
23:36That's no big deal.
23:37You're arrogant about this whole thing, he's telling the church.
23:40Ought you not rather to mourn?
23:42Shouldn't you be saddened by this activity?
23:45Let him who has done this thing be removed from among you.
23:48And then he continues on.
23:49For though absent in body, I am present in spirit, and as if present, I have already
23:53pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing.
23:56When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus, and my spirit is present,
23:59with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction
24:04of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
24:08So, what's the goal here?
24:10Harming him?
24:10No.
24:11Restoration.
24:12That's the goal.
24:14It's to restore this man.
24:15Now, if you read 2 Corinthians, he actually repented, and they did restore him back.
24:20But the goal here is not just to be mean or harsh to the guy.
24:23The goal is restoration.
24:25This behavior is unacceptable.
24:27It is not what Jesus wills or what he desires.
24:30We want to have sexual integrity, and you're not living it.
24:34You need to be restored back to what you know to be true.
24:39So, what did the church do?
24:41Continue on.
24:42Chapter 5, a little bit further down.
24:45I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning
24:51the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since then
24:56you would need to go out of this world.
24:57None of you could go to work, okay?
24:59All right?
24:59You couldn't go to work, if that's what he said.
25:01Don't associate with these people.
25:03Well, then you couldn't go to work.
25:04So, he's not talking about the people in the world.
25:06That's not what he's talking about.
25:06But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother
25:11if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed or is an idolater or a viler, drunkard, or
25:17swindler, not even to eat with such a one.
25:20For what I have to do with judging outsiders, is it not those inside the church whom you are
25:25to judge?
25:26God judges those outside.
25:28Purge the evil person from among you.
25:30Again, the idea is, like a dandelion in the front yard, if you allow it to stay there,
25:36it's going to grow.
25:37This man needs to repent.
25:39He needs to be restored.
25:40And until he does that, you need to remove him because it influences everyone in the church.
25:48That's hard.
25:49It's rarely practiced today in churches.
25:51You rarely see it happen.
25:55They must not allow or tolerate her teaching any longer, but they must remove her from the
26:00church if she will not repent.
26:02And Jesus has already asked her and she hasn't, but she can still repent.
26:05Mercy's still available.
26:08She's already addressed it, but she doesn't want anything to do with it.
26:10He says, I'm going to throw you onto a sickbed.
26:12I'm going to throw you onto a sickbed.
26:14It's a Hebrew idiom.
26:16The idea of to cast someone on a bed of illness or to judge with sickness is the idea.
26:23Farrer comments, the punishment fits the crime.
26:26She who profane the bed of love is pinned to the bed of sickness.
26:31I'll throw you onto a sickbed.
26:33I'm going to cause illness in your life.
26:36The children of Jezebel, her followers, they were to repent.
26:43Christ sees it all.
26:45He knows everything that's happening.
26:47Jeremiah 17 just reminds us, I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind.
26:51He's not just saying, I think this is happening.
26:53He knows what's going on in his church to give every man according to his ways, according
26:58to the fruit of his deeds.
27:00They will not be able to hide from Jesus when he comes, but he still extends mercy.
27:07Repent, come back to what you know to be true.
27:11Jesus will deal out retributive justice on those who will not repent.
27:16And again, it's a hard text.
27:18He will kill them.
27:19That's how serious he takes this.
27:21This is serious.
27:27Each Christian, he says, though, since he sees it all, will be rewarded for your works.
27:32I have not forgotten your works.
27:34I see them all.
27:34You will be rewarded for your works.
27:36I know your works.
27:37You will be rewarded for them.
27:38We're reminded in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.
27:41Each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed
27:46by fire and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
27:49If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survive, he will receive reward.
27:53Jesus goes, I know.
27:54I see it.
27:54I will reward you.
27:56Trust me.
27:56I see it all.
27:57I know exactly why you're doing it.
27:59I see your love for me.
28:00You will be rewarded for it.
28:03But now he's going to address those.
28:05Again, this is a divided church.
28:07You have those who follow Jezebel.
28:08Then you have the others.
28:09Look at verses 24 and 25.
28:12This exhortation to them.
28:1324 and 25.
28:17But to the rest of you in Thyatira, in other words, there's two groups.
28:21It's a divided church who do not hold this teaching.
28:24In other words, you say, this is not right.
28:26This is wrong.
28:27Who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan.
28:31To you, I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.
28:35Only hold fast what you have until I come.
28:38Hold it.
28:39You know what's true.
28:40Hold on.
28:41Don't be convinced to compromise with the biblical truths.
28:45Hold tight to it.
28:46You know.
28:47You know.
28:49Those people who claim to know the deep things or the deep things of Satan.
28:54Perhaps it's an irony here.
28:56It's likely that Jezebel would say something like this.
28:59Come to me and I'll teach you the deep things about God.
29:02And Jesus is going, no, no.
29:04Actually, what she's doing, she's teaching the deep things about Satan, not about God.
29:08So it's probably an irony going on here.
29:11Deep things of Satan.
29:12No.
29:14But he says, for the rest of you, I'm not going to add anything extra.
29:17You already know what to do.
29:18I'm not going to pile more stuff on top of you.
29:21I'm not going to lay any other burden on top of you.
29:23And that reminds us of something.
29:24Reminds us of that decree in Acts 15.
29:27In fact, the same word he is almost used.
29:29Acts 15.
29:30For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden
29:34than these requirements, that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols.
29:39Huh?
29:40Sounds familiar.
29:40And from blood.
29:41And from what has been strangled.
29:43And from sexual immorality.
29:44Huh?
29:44Sounds familiar.
29:46If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.
29:49Farewell.
29:49So in other words, I'm not going to add anything extra on you.
29:51We're not going to do that.
29:52You already know what you need to do.
29:53Just keep doing it.
29:53You're doing a great job.
29:54Those who are not holding these teachings.
29:56Keep going.
29:57Keep persevering.
29:59Keep moving forward.
30:00They are to hold fast to the teaching that was once for all delivered to the saints.
30:05Hold fast.
30:06This Christian walk is not a sprint.
30:09It is a marathon.
30:10We hold fast.
30:12Hold fast to that teaching.
30:13What you know to be true.
30:15Hold tight to it.
30:17Hold fast.
30:18Hold fast until he comes back.
30:21Till he returns.
30:22Hold fast.
30:24Hold on.
30:25David McLeod, he told us a story of the fall of Atlanta in 1864.
30:30That's during the Civil War.
30:32General John B. Hood, commander of the Confederate Army, marched westward to attack the communications
30:38of General Sherman with Chattanooga and Nashville.
30:41He hoped to draw Sherman's army away from Georgia.
30:44One of the posts he attacked was Al-Aloota Pass, commanded by the grave and capable general
30:49course.
30:50Sherman himself went back with part of his army as far as Knessus Mountain.
30:55From the summit of the mountain, he signaled, with flags, you know, signal.
30:59He signaled the belaggared garrison.
31:01Hold the fort.
31:03I am coming.
31:05Major Whittle, an evangelical Christian, related this incident to the hymn writer P.P.
31:09Bliss, who was inspired to write,
31:12Hold the fort for I am coming.
31:13Jesus' signal still.
31:16Wave the answer back to heaven.
31:17By thy grace, we will.
31:19So from that event, he said, hold on until I come back.
31:24And he promises to those who are the conquering ones, to all believers, he makes promises.
31:30Look at 26 through 29.
31:33The one who conquers, and we've already talked about that.
31:35It's a participle.
31:36It's the conquering one.
31:37It's not a question of will they or won't they conquer.
31:40They will conquer.
31:41The one who conquers and who keeps my words until the end, to him I will give authority
31:46over the nations.
31:48And he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces,
31:54even as I myself have received authority from my father.
31:57And I will give him the morning star.
32:00He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
32:04Again, this is for all churches of all time.
32:06Pay attention.
32:07Pay attention to what's going on.
32:10The overcoming, conquering one will rule with Jesus when he comes to establish his kingdom
32:15on this earth.
32:16In one of his parables, Jesus ended Luke 19.
32:19He ended it like this.
32:20And he said to him, well done, good servant.
32:22Because you have been faithful in a very little, you will have authority over 10 cities.
32:27When Christ comes back, he's going to use us in his kingdom as administrators in his kingdom.
32:34He rules.
32:35We get to rule underneath him.
32:38He's coming and a new day will dawn.
32:40Just like when the morning star dawns, which is Venus.
32:44He is the morning star.
32:46And all believers will share in his messianic rule over the nations on that new day.
32:51For when that morning star is seen, it reminds us the day is dawning.
32:56A new day approaches.
32:58I am the morning star.
33:00Revelation 22, Jesus this.
33:01I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.
33:06I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.
33:10And I'll give him that.
33:11That's the hope of a new day.
33:14See, Jezebel wanted them to reign in this life.
33:19Jesus promised believers that they will reign with him in the life to come.
33:24She promises earthly.
33:25He promises us eternal.
33:27Okay.
33:28What can we learn from this?
33:29Here's a couple of things.
33:30Number one, test all people claiming to be speaking for God to determine if they really are.
33:36Test it.
33:37Does it align with the word of God?
33:39Is it what we know to be revealed?
33:42Test it.
33:43Me too, please.
33:44I invite you.
33:45Test me also.
33:47Number two, know the word of God well enough to discern false teaching when it comes.
33:52See, there was a group who recognized that her teaching was false and they were over here
33:55and the church was divided because he had Jezebel and her followers over here.
33:58They recognized that that teaching was not right.
34:01So we need to be able to discern and recognize when teaching is not according to the word
34:04that we don't let it into our life.
34:08Three, do not tolerate false teaching in your life or the life of this church.
34:16I scroll on X.
34:17Hey, I'm a social media guy.
34:19I don't spend a lot of time, but I scroll on X and I can guarantee you everything I read
34:23on X about Christianity is not true.
34:26It's not true.
34:28It's not true.
34:30And if I start accepting all of these things that people are saying about Christianity that
34:34contrary to the word of God and invite that into my life with some sort of teaching,
34:38I'm, I'm, I'm abiding of dandelions in and they're going to start growing.
34:43Don't tolerate it.
34:45Lastly, one day, Jesus will usher in the kingdom on earth and believers will assist him in administrating
34:51it.
34:52He rules and we will rule underneath him with him in his kingdom.
34:57Let's pray.
34:58Father, thank you.
34:59Thank you for this text to remind us of a very important things, things that we need to be
35:04paying attention to.
35:05We need to do the right things.
35:07However, we need to be careful of what we allow into ourselves or into the church that
35:13would be contrary to what you want us to do, contrary to your will.
35:16And like a dandelion, it's going to grow and multiply in my front yard and it's going to
35:20be 500 before I know it because that's what dandelions do.
35:24And false teaching, I know, does the same thing.
35:28Permeates like 11 that's in a loaf of bread and spreads all over.
35:32So we're asking, Lord, that you would keep us true to your word, all of us, that we would
35:37have wisdom and discernment to know what is true and what is right and what is good.
35:41And we would stick to that, that faith that has once for all been delivered to the saints.
35:46So thank you, Father.
35:47We pray in Jesus' name.
35:48Amen.