Turning Point - David Jeremiah

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Standing firm in the faith is challenging under the best
of circumstances, let alone in a church compromised by sin.
What does Jesus have to say about such bold belief?
Today on Turning Point, Doctor David Jeremiah shares Christ's words
of hope and encouragement for Christians who remain true in

(00:25):
the midst of compromise. Listen as David shares the conclusion
of the adulterist Church Thia Tyra, and.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
If you want to follow us in the scripture, this
is Revelation chapter two, and we're in verses eighteen through
twenty nine. This is one of the seven churches to
whom a letter was written. This is a scorching letter
to a church that was in the depths of rebellion
and sinfulness. It's revealing how God deals with that, and

(00:57):
we'll see that as we get into the next part
of this letter, as we all in our Bibles together
in a moment. First of all, let me tell you
that if you haven't done so already, you need to
ask for your copy of the book Escape the coming
night when you send a gift to Turning Point during
this month. This book is a two hundred and ninety
page book that will take you through the Book of Revelation.

(01:17):
Is written in a contemporary style. It's not a book
for seminary students or professors of that sort. It's a
book for everybody. We can all understand it. You will
understand the Book of Revelation as you read this book,
and you will be fascinated by these truths. This book
is yours for the asking. When you send a gift
of any size to Turning Point during the month of April,

(01:41):
please make sure you get this book. Help us along
the way. It'd be great. Thank you so very much.
Here's part two of the Adulterous Church.

Speaker 3 (01:53):
In the beautiful body of the Church of Thiatyra, there
was a cancer, you see, had everything that God wanted
it to have except one basic thing. It did not
have holiness. Now, if the devil cannot conquer the church

(02:15):
by the application of political pressure, as was tried in
Smyrna when the Romans came in and tried to persecute
them away from their faith, if the devil cannot ruin
the church by propagating intellectual heresy, he will try anything
he can, including the introduction of moral evil into the

(02:37):
rank and file of the church. And this was the
dragon's strategy in Thiatyra, to introduce evil into the church
through a woman who taught in the church that immorality
was acceptable. Now, it's important that we have a little
background on Jezebel. You know, that is not a flattering term.

(03:02):
I'm sure that before Ahab, Jezebel may have been a
nice name. There may have been many Jezebels. Even people
may have called their prettiest little girl Jezebel. But when
she got done with the name, she did to that
name what Judas did to his, And nobody calls anybody.

(03:22):
Do you know anybody named Jezebel. You see, Jezebel was
a woman in the Old Testament who was the wife
of Ahab, one of Israel's most wicked kings. Her father
was a man named Ethbail, who was a priest of Astarte,
and he had succeeded to the throne of Sidon by
murdering his predecessor. Astarte or Astrooth, which is another name

(03:48):
for that God was the Phoenician equivalent of the Greek
Aphrodite or the Roman Venus. Under Astoroth, religion was divorced
from morality and sexual immorality was actually made part of worship,
So a priestess in the worship of Astroth was a prostitute,

(04:14):
and the whole worship of that God or goddess was
wrapped up in wholesale prostitution. And when Jezebel married Ahab,
obviously Ahab was out of the will of God. He
should never have married Jezebel. She brought all of her
wicked religion with her right into Israel, and she persuaded

(04:37):
Ahab to build a temple and an altar to Astarte
right in Samaria where Ahab was, and she supported eight
hundred and fifty prophets of her immoral cult. And she
systematically went through Israel trying to kill all the prophets
of Jehovah that she could find, and King Jayhu referred

(04:58):
to her way as harlow trees and sorceries. Ahab did
not have the spiritual courage or conviction to stop her.
He didn't know what to do with her. And Jezebel
herself had the most unbelievable record of any woman you'd
ever want to read about in the Bible. She was
responsible for killing Naboth for repossessing his vineyard for her husband.

(05:21):
Her husband didn't have the guts to do it, so
she went and did it for him. She killed practically
all the prophets of the Lord, and she tried to
kill Elijah. You remember Elijah. She must have been an
awesome woman because she scared Elijah half to death. Elijah
stood on Mount Carmel, and he withstood all of the
prophets of bail, and he was a courageous, god fearing

(05:43):
righteous man. But when Jezebel was coming, he ran as
fast as he could, and he didn't stop till he
ran out of breath. So evil was Jezebel's character that
she is singled out by Elijah for a special prophecy,
that she would come to a sudden end, and that
her body would be eaten by DAWs, and it was
fulfilled like that in Second Kings nine thirty three to

(06:04):
thirty five. She therefore is the epitome of subtle corruption
and a symbol of immorality in idolatry. When you think
of Jezebel in the Old Testament sense, that's what you
think about. She represented idolatry and immorality. Now, when Jesus
writes to the church at Thiatyra. The first Jezebel had

(06:28):
been dead for a thousand years, But what he is
saying to that church is that her spirit had had
a revival and lived again in a woman whose name
probably wasn't even Jezebel, but she was so much like
Jezebel that she was referred to by the Lord as
a Jezebel, and she claimed to be a prophetess of God.

(06:51):
This Jezebel was causing the Christians in Thiatyra to indulge
in immoral practices. Some think that the Christians were being
invited by Jezebel to attend the ceremonies and the festivals
of the local trade unions, which were dedicated to some
pagan god and usually incorporated sensuality in the process. And

(07:13):
these followers of Jezebel prided themselves in the deep things
which they had mastered. In the text, it talks about
the deep things. I've seen the spirit. Though I don't
know anything quite this bad, I've seen the spirit. How
people justify their im moral conduct by talking about the
deep things, the spiritual depth, and the liberty and freedom

(07:35):
which God has given them. That was the doctrine and
practice of Jezebel. They felt that they were private to secret,
esoteric information that most average Christians did not know. Their
practice was twofold and it was always the same. Idolatry

(07:59):
couple with immorality, and as you look at the churches
we've studied now, you can see a progress that's scary,
because it's really difficult for us to be more conservative
now than we used to be. Have you noticed that
things don't usually by themselves get better, do they? They
get worse? Now? Watch carefully. You remember the church in Ephesus.

(08:22):
The people in Ephesus hated the works of the Nicolatans
and could not endure them. First church, the church in Pergamus,
had the doctrine of Balem and the Nicolatans. That's what
the letter says. The church in Thia Tyra tolerated those.
The verse twenty says, notwithstanding I have a few things

(08:44):
against thee, because thou sufferest that woman. Literally the word
suffras means tolerated. Ephesis couldn't stand it. Pergamas had a
few that were into it. Thy Tyra tolerated it. That's
the way happens, isn't it. It starts over here with
absolute total rejection of it. Then we allow it a

(09:07):
little bit, and then we just tolerated things we would
never have ever thought of in the past. We can
lay right down by it and go to sleep. Now
it doesn't even bothers, because that's the way it works.
Now Jesus is talking to them about that. You see,
the Christians in Thiatyra either had a poor conscience or
they had feeble courage. Either their conscience had been seared

(09:31):
so they didn't see anything wrong with it, or they
saw something wrong with it and didn't have the courage
to do anything about it. They were as weak and
spineless about the new Jezebel as Ah had been about
the old Jezebel. And Christ complained that this Jezebel had
contrived to deceive his servants and to take them into sin. Now,

(09:54):
having told him what's wrong, he's about to deliver a message.
And this is some message. It's not long, but it's pointed.
The message has several parts, basically three. First of all,
he's going to deliver a message to the cult, the
Jezebel people. Then he's going to deliver a message to

(10:15):
the Christians who aren't in the cult. And finally he's
going to deliver a message to those who are conquerors,
who are going to live above all of this. Now,
let's watch, first of all, what he says to the
cult Verses twenty one, twenty two, and twenty three. He says,
I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and
she repented. Not behold, I will cast her into a bed,

(10:38):
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 here, which searcheth the reins and hearts,
and I will give unto every one of you according
to your works. Now, notice, first of all, in verse

(10:58):
twenty one, that she was given a space or a
time to repent, and she had not done so. A
terrible judgment is therefore pronounced upon her, that she will
be cast into a bed of affliction, and that those
who shared her evil deeds will be cast into tribulation.
Man by the name of Sweet, who has written a

(11:19):
good commentary on this book, says, in this case, there
is a sharp contrast between the luxurious couch where the
sin was committed, and the bed of pain where she's
going to end up. The old adage maybe comes from
this passage. You made your bed, now lie in it.
Jesus is saying to this woman who has brought immorality

(11:42):
into the church, and has taught licentiousness, and has told
the people that it's all right to live in the
world and partake of the world's pleasures and at the
same time be a Christian. Jesus is saying to her,
you are going to pay for what you have done.
You are going to go into the very bed of
sickness those who have committed this evil with you. He

(12:05):
describes those who will share her judgment as committing adultery
with her. Christ also predicts that Jezebel's children will be
killed with death, and it will be done in such
a way. He says that all the churches will know
that I am he which searcheth the reins and the hearts,
and I will give to every one of you according

(12:26):
to your works. The word reigns here in the text
actually is the translation of the word kidneys. And it's
interesting in the New Testament when we say I know
your heart in New Testament. They would say, I know
your kidneys, that's the strangest thing, But that's what they
consider to be their heart. And what Jesus is saying

(12:47):
is I know the very depths of your being. I
know you at the very core of who you are,
and I see through all of this, and I am
going to judge you on the basis of what you
have done. And then Christ predicts the Jezebel's children will
be killed with death. He predicts that the assembly in
Thiatyra is going to know that he is in charge.

(13:10):
He is going to do this in such a way
if they don't repent, notice Verses twenty four and twenty five.
But I say unto you, to the rest of you
in Thiatyra, as many as have not this doctrine, and
which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you no other burden but that

(13:31):
which you have already hold fast till I come. Now.
This is a very interesting little section. I want you
to hear this carefully. In this church in Thia Tyra
was a group of people who had gathered around Jezebel,
and they got a little cult together called the Jezebel cult,
and they followed her. But they weren't the only ones
in the church. There were a lot of good people

(13:53):
in the church. You hadn't gotten caught up in that,
And now Jesus is going to talk to them. He's saying,
I want to speak to the rest of you who
haven't gotten involved in that, and I want to give
you some advice and some council. And when this dawned
on me what he was saying, I thought, what a
tremendous truth for all of us who are its Christians,

(14:13):
so that we can learn how we should function as
Jesus wants us to function. He says, to the rest
of you who are not caught up in this, I
don't want to give you any other burden. I don't
want to lay any other burden on you at all.
And it seems to be a reference to the Book
of Acts and the fifteenth chapter. Hold your place here

(14:34):
and turn to Acts, chapter fifteen in the council. In
the Book of Acts, there was in Jerusalem a serious
controversy within the church as to what should happen in
the church concerning eating meat that had been offered to idols,

(14:57):
concerning the transition from being a Jews to being a Christian.
How should Christians and Jewish people live together? What should
the Church do with all these Jewish people who were
becoming Christians? And would the Church require them now to
continue or not to continue? And so this council met
under the auspices of the Holy Spirit to resolve some

(15:19):
of those issues. And in the fifteenth chapter of the
Book of Acts we read of their disposition and what
they decided. Verse twenty eight summarizes it. For it seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things. There's

(15:41):
where the phrase from Revelation comes from. For it seemed
good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay
upon you no greater burden than these necessary things that
you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood,
and from things strangled, and from fornication. Which if if
you keep yourselves, yes, you do well. Fare you well?

(16:03):
Now what does he say? They were wrestling with all
of the issues of Judaism. Should a person be circumcised,
how should a Jew function within the Christian community? And
what should they do about the Heathen temples and the
meat and all of the rest of that. And the
council said, listen, we just come up with some basic things.
Stay away from meat offered to idols and from things strangled,

(16:24):
and don't get involved in fornication. It's just simple. Now,
Jesus is saying to the people in Thia Tyra who
were not involved in the cult of Jezebelism, which is
gross immorality in the name of religion, and he is saying, now, listen,
let me talk to you for a minute. You're not
in that, you're not involved in that. Let me tell
you how to act. I don't want to lay any

(16:45):
other burden on you than this. Just don't do what
they're doing, that's all. And I thought to myself, how
refreshing in our day and age, when we see somebody
doing something wrong, we come clear over here, and we
set up fourteen new rules to make sure that we

(17:08):
don't ever even get close. And now we're not doing
what they're doing, but we're not doing anything over here either,
And all of a sudden we look back and we've
bondaged ourselves with legalism, and there's no freedom in Christ.
And I love the phrase I don't want to lay
any other burden on you. Just don't do what they're doing.
We take all of the things that are non essentials

(17:30):
and make them essentials, and we forget about the essentials.
We take all the absolutes that God has given us
and we downplay those while we live in the world
of the non absolutes, and make those the discussion items
among Christian people. And Jesus is saying to the church, look,
here's this Jezebel called over here, and I know you're

(17:51):
concerned about it, and I don't want you to be
like that. Please don't get involved in that. But I
don't want to lay any other burden on you. Just
be Christian, Just serve God. Just hold fast to the
things that you know are right, and God will honor That.
Isn't it refreshing? Then? That just make you breathe easier. Last,

(18:14):
there is a message to the conquerors. Notice verses twenty
six through twenty nine. 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.

(18:37):
He that hath a near let him hear what the
spirit saith under the churches. Now, at the end of
almost every letter there is a little reference to the overcomers,
to him that overcomes. Here's what I'll do, And what
Jesus is saying is that those of you who are
within this church and THI a tyrant, you want to
live above all of that. And God bless you for

(18:58):
doing it, for living at a level, an overcoming level.
You're Christian people, but you're overcoming Christians. Let me tell
you what I want to give to you. Two things
he promises them. Number one, the power to rule, and
number two the promise of the rapture. Watch this, if
you will be an overcomer, if you will overcome and

(19:20):
keep my works unto the end. If you will do this,
I will give you power over the nations. What is
he talking about, Well, you can look at that any
way you want to. It is obviously a reference to
the future when Christian people are going to reign and
rule with Christ and we're going to have power over
the nations as coregients with the Lord Jesus as he

(19:43):
reigns upon this earth, and he is saying to us,
you are going to have the opportunity to rule and
to reign with me. And something of your opportunity is
based upon your faithfulness while you're down here. The principle
of being faithful over a few things and being and
made ruler over many is just extended out into the millennium.

(20:03):
And we are going to be rewarded as we serve
the Lord in the future by our faithfulness in our
serving him now. And boy, will there be some surprizes.
People that seem to have great administrative responsibility down here
and seem to be rulers over many within the body
will be the mayor of some little podunk place, while

(20:25):
a faithful prayer warrior who you never heard of before
will be in charge of great domain. He that is faithful,
I will make him rule over the nations. And I
wish I could take some more time to talk about that,
because there's some other interesting things in verse twenty seven,
But let me just reference what it says in verse
twenty eight. And I will give him the morning Star

(20:51):
to the overcomers is given the promise of the morning Star. Now,
there are various explanations of this expression, but it seems
to refer to Christ himself in his role as the
returning one who will rapture the church before the dark
hours preceding the dawn of the millennial Kingdom. The morning

(21:13):
Star Jesus Christ is the bright and morning star, and
he is coming someday. And those who are faithful, those
who are the conquerors, He promises to them that excitement
in the future. You can surely tell, if you've been listening,

(21:36):
that the dangers still exist for the people of God today.
For instance, like in Ephesus, we can be zealous and
orthodox and lose our devotion to Christ and some people
have that happen to him. Or like Thiatyra, our love
can be increasing yet lacking in the kind of discernment
that is necessary to keep the church pure, like Pergamus.

(22:02):
Like Thiatyra, we may be so tolerant of evil that
we grieve the Lord and we invite his judgment upon us.
I want to ask you a question. If you'd had
all these four churches listed for you with the description
of them, which would you have picked as the most
righteous and holy? I guarantee you if you hadn't listened

(22:23):
to the messages. You'd never picked Smyrna, especially in light
of today's standards for prosperity and blessing. Smyrna was weak.
Smyrna was persecuted. Smyrna was vitiated in its ranks. Smyrna
was under attacks. Murrna was decentralized in its church. Smyrna

(22:44):
was the persecuted church. But the Lord chose that church
and used that church. And we need to remind ourselves
not to judge the church on that which we see
from the outside, but to ask God to give us
the wisdom to see the heart of the church. And
God's exhortation to these churches, with the exception of Smyrna,

(23:05):
is the same. If there's something wrong, he says, repent,
change your mind. And it's not only to lost sinners
that he says repent, but it's to Christians who are
out of focus that he says repent. To the Christians
in Pergamus he says repent, to the Christians in thy
Tyra he says repent. And to all of us who
are off the track from where God wants us to be,

(23:28):
he says to us, change your mind and start going
in the right direction, and I will bless you and
I will honor you. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the spirit saith under the churches. Amen.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
Amen, you know the word repent means to turn around
and do it one. It doesn't just mean feel bad
about what you've done. It means to change and go
in a different direction. And how we need that doctrine
in our church. Repentance has taken on a very a
simple concept from our people. Most people think repents is

(24:04):
just to be sorry for something you did. It's way
more than that. Repentance is a change of direction. And
to the Church in Ephesus, to all of these churches
wherever there is a question about their conduct, the answer
is always the same. Repent, stop doing what you're doing,
and go back to doing what you know pleases the Lord.

(24:27):
We'll have more of that as I'm sure we look
at these next churches. Tomorrow we're going to talk about
the church and Sartis. We've called this the dead Church.
This is a picture of a lot of churches today.
You don't want to miss tomorrow as we talk about that.
And then if we get to get your copy of
Escape the Coming Night. This contemporary commentary in the Book
of Revelation is yours for the asking. When you send

(24:49):
a gift to Turning Point today, Thank you for your gift,
enjoy the book. We'll see you tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (24:55):
Our message today came to you from Shadow Mountain Community
Church and doctor David Jeremiah. What is God doing in
your life as a result of this ministry? Write and
tell us at Turning Point po Box thirty eight thirty eight,
San Diego, California, nine two one sixty three. Visit our
website at David Jeremiah dot org, Slash Radio, or call

(25:19):
eight hundred nine four seven nineteen ninety three ask for
your copy of David's best selling, in depth book on revelation,
Escape the Coming Night. It's yours for a gift of
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(25:41):
of any amount, visit turningpointplus dot org for details. This
is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us tomorrow as we continue
the series Escape the Coming Night on Turning Point with
Doctor David Jeremiah,