February 9, 2025 • 36 mins
Compromise can be a slippery slope, leading from small concessions to full-blown corruption. Join Larry as he unpacks this critical theme through the lens of the letter to the church in Thyatira, found in Revelation 2:18-29. Despite being the smallest of the seven churches in Asia Minor, Thyatira receives the most extensive admonition, a testament to how perilous unchecked compromises can be. With insights from Psalm 1:1 and Ephesians 6:12, Larry underscores the necessity of vigilance against ungodly influences and the deceitfulness of the human heart, illustrating how seemingly minor compromises can snowball into significant spiritual failures.
In today’s cultural climate, many churches grapple with the balance between maintaining biblical truths and adapting to societal norms. Larry draws parallels between the ancient church in Thyatira and modern congregations that may prioritize political correctness over traditional doctrine, sparking a decline in church attendance. He calls for Christians to stand firm in their faith, recognizing spiritual warfare as a reality, and urges the importance of repentance and steadfastness. As he wraps up, Larry champions the value of personal faith and encourages an open-hearted approach to church, inviting those seeking a relationship with Jesus to embrace this journey with hope and righteousness.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good afternoon, gang.
It's Larry.
Again with the thoughts I havetoward you, I hope that you're
well today as we dive into ournext study, the study on the
fourth church in the sevenchurches in Asia Minor.
It's a study that I've calledCompromise Leads to Corruption.
(00:23):
Open your Bibles we're going tobe turning a lot today, so open
your Bibles to the core text,which is Revelation 2, 18 to 29.
Put a finger in Psalm 1, verse1.
And also then we're going toreference Ephesians 6, 12.
(00:43):
And then we're going to finishthe section.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks for today.
I give you thanks for renewedenergy, renewed steadfastness,
lord, to the mission that you'vecalled me on and all of the
people that will hear thesemessages in perpetuity.
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Lord, we are at war.
We are at war against not fleshand blood, but principalities
and powers, lord, and we need tocontinue to understand that
compromise is a dangerous pathto walk down because it leads to
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corruption.
Corruption is the stage beforedeath of a church body.
Lord and Lord, as we getthrough this study, there are
going to be some things that arehard to hear.
There are going to be somethings that were hard to say,
hard to write, but I feel thatthey need to be said.
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I feel led by you to say them,lord.
God, I give you thanks for thecourage that is born of you to
know that you have my back andthat you are my rear guard.
I pray for everyone within thesound of my voice, wherever
today finds them.
I pray for everyone, within thesound of my voice, wherever
today finds them, that theywould be at peace and that they
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would know your love and yourgrace and your mercy, in Jesus'
name, amen.
All right, if you're able, openup your Bibles to Revelation.
Book of Revelation, chapter 2.
We're working through it,chapter 2, we're almost done
with the chapter here, verses 18to 29,.
(02:31):
So that's a long section.
It's 11 verses, but we're goingto get through it today and, as
I said, we are moving throughthat study of the churches as we
continue in the book ofRevelation.
This week, as we look at thefourth letter from Jesus to the
church in Thyatira, there are afew items to note as we get
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started.
First, this letter to thechurch in Thyatira is the
longest of the seven letters andThyatira, by contrast, is the
smallest church of the seven andJesus has a lot to say.
Second, they are in trouble.
They're in big trouble, and I'mnot talking about I stole a
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cookie from the cookie jar kindof trouble.
No, no, no.
They're in danger of beingswallowed whole by the evil born
of compromise, which leads tocorruption.
The last time we were togetherwe learned about compromise.
Compromise is the predecessorto corruption.
Come with me to the center ofyour Bibles and for those that
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may be new to the faith or newto navigating your scriptures,
it's really pretty cool.
If you put your Bible on itsspine and let it fall open, it
will open to the center of yourBible.
And in the center of your Bibleis the book of Psalms, and
we're not going to go real farin Psalms.
So wherever you landed, go tothe left or the right and find
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Psalm 1, verse 1.
And it says blessed is the manwho walks in the counsel of the,
who walks not in the counsel ofthe ungodly, nor stands in the
path of sinners, nor sits in theseat of the scornful.
That's Psalm 1.1, new KingJames Version.
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That's how compromise starts,and we alluded to that last time
starts and we alluded to thatlast time.
It starts with little thingsand then those things build on
themselves until you're in somuch trouble that you just can't
find a way out.
But that's how compromise starts.
We decide that something we aredoing is not such a big deal.
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Now, for example, let's saywe're at the gym, our wives are
at home with the kids and westart watching a woman.
We let our mind wander.
I don't need to say, gentlemen,what we're thinking about, do I
?
She's young enough to be yourdaughter, never mind that she's
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someone's daughter, and you'remarried with children.
We justify it as I can't beconvicted of what I'm thinking,
right?
Well, the story goes on andover the next several weeks,
your gym attendance goes up tothe point that your wife begins
to notice and compliments you onyour doggedness.
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You're a dog, all right.
Yeah, you're a dog, alright.
You started meeting with thisgirl for scheduled tandem
workouts.
She's so complimentary andfunny and attractive.
It's not a problem.
You think what's wrong withhaving a female friend Ever been
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there?
Ever been there?
It's okay, but that's that'swhere it starts.
Right there, let's pick back upin Psalm 1.
The verse itself has three parts.
You're walking in the counselof the ungodly, then you stand
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in the path of sinners and thenyou sit in the counsel of the
ungodly, then you stand in thepath of sinners and then you sit
in the seat of the scornful.
Okay, these are the threethings that happen as compromise
leads to corruption In theexample.
You've already ticked off thefirst two.
You've already ticked off thefirst two.
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You walked in the counsel ofthe ungodly.
Well, okay, so, larry, thatwould mean that I took ungodly
counsel.
Did I really do that?
Yes, you did.
From who you say?
Well, yourself, never, ever,forget that the human heart is
inherently sinful, regardless ofwhat the world tells you.
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We were born to sin.
We were born to that.
Follow your heart is thebiggest lie that's ever been
perpetrated by mass media, massentertainment and the secular
world.
Because your heart can bedeceived.
Your heart can be deceived.
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The Bible says that all havesinned and fallen short of the
glory of God.
That's Romans 3.23.
Then you stood in the path ofsinners.
When you approach the girl andcontinue to walk that path with
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each deepening interaction withher, lastly and I think you can
see where this is going we willsit in the seat of the scornful.
We'll justify that too.
It's just a fling, it's anaffair.
It's no big deal right.
You know, I was taught yearsago and I've never forgotten
this either that as Christianswe should call things what they
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are.
It's not an affair, it's not afling, it's not any of those
things.
What society brushes off is sinin the eyes of God, and that
sin has a name it's calledadultery, and this is just one
example of the kind ofcompromise we're talking about.
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However, it's an easy exampleto use because it makes my point
.
You can think of a dozen otherexamples, I'm certain, and I'd
love to hear some examples fromyour own life.
You can drop me a note onsocials or you can let me know
by email what you think of those, because I do have a fan mail
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section on my site.
So it was adultery from thebeginning, though.
Back to our example, make nomistake about it.
Jesus said, but I say to you,whoever looks at a woman with
lust for her has alreadycommitted adultery with her in
his heart.
It's Matthew 5, 28, new KingJames.
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So back at the very beginning,when you went to the gym that
morning and you saw that girland your mind started to wonder,
right there, right there, inthat moment, in that period of
time, that's when the adulterywas committed, right there.
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It's a hard bar.
Jesus doesn't make anyexception for it, but it's a
hard bar and that, friends, isthe path to corruption.
As we read the letter toThyatira, we see a fall into not
only danger, nah, nah, nah.
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Thyatira is not only walkingthe path of sin.
They are sitting in the seat ofthe scornful, as we learned
back in Psalm 1.
They've completed the walk.
They've stood with the seat ofthe scornful, as we learned back
in Psalm 1.
They've completed the walk.
Okay, they've stood with theungodly, they've walked and then
they've sat.
So let's pick it up at thebeginning of the letter here,
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verse 17 to 19.
And to the angel in the churchin Thyatira write of the letter
here, verse 17 to 19.
And to the angel in the churchin Thyatira, write these things,
says the Son of God, with hiseyes like a flame of fire and
his feet like fine brass.
I know your works, love,service, faith and your patience
.
As for your works, the last ismore than the first.
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Hmm, okay, jesus is describedhere as having eyes of fire and
feet of fine brass.
He's coming in victory andjudgment.
Okay, as we talked about lastweek, he's coming in victory and
judgment.
He praises the church for theirworks love, service, faith and
patience, saying their last,most recent works are more than
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their first.
The phrasing here can be missedby the casual reader.
Jesus is saying you are growingas a body of believers.
The last is better than thefirst, meaning that when you
started out you weren't doing sogreat, but now you're doing
better.
That's good news.
That's good news.
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The word doesn't give anyspecifics here as to what they
did or how they came to be, orwhat started it or what happened
in the beginning.
Suffice it to say, in someaspects they're moving forward.
However, there's a caveat, andhere it comes.
Nevertheless, I have a fewthings against you, because you
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allow the woman Jezebel, whocalls herself a prophetess, to
teach and seduce my servants, tocommit sexual immorality and
eat things sacrificed to idols.
Now, if we go back to thechurch we studied last week,
okay, if we go back to thechurch we studied last week,
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this was the same statement thatJesus made to that church.
That church is just not as fardown the line to corruption as
Thyatira is.
Right.
That's the difference here.
These letters.
It works its way down to theend, which is the death of a
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church.
Okay, so I'll admit that Istared at my blinking cursor for
weeks after reading andpondering that verse as a
podcaster and a writer and ateacher of biblical truth.
It was hard.
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It was hard to write, and itwas not because I didn't
understand the verse, butbecause I did.
And I do understand it BecauseI see it in my mind.
See it because I see it, rather, and my mind wants to apply it
to the circumstances of thecorporate church today.
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The problem is what if I paintwith too broad a brush In the
social media age?
If I'm not careful, my wordswill be twisted, taken out of
context and used to defame me.
More concerning than that ishow Satan will stir people up
and attempt to do damage to thecause of Christ.
A couple of things.
The cause of Christ is Jesus'cause.
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I am but a cog in the wheel toall his plan.
He knows the end from thebeginning.
The Bible tells us Not much Ican do to screw that up.
From the beginning, the Bibletells us not much I can do to
screw that up.
The truth of the matter is mypersonal popularity is of no
concern.
The truth is the truth, and mycalling is to speak the truth
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with the understanding thatthere is no one I wouldn't want
to see in heaven.
That's the reason why I do this.
It's on that mandate that Istand, and everybody needs to
understand that, because what'scoming now is some hard truth,
some hard truth, but it's truthnonetheless.
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Just because people don't likeit doesn't mean it's not true.
The letter to the church inThyatira is a letter to so much
of the church today.
The church today is busy, verybusy.
But you know what?
In my estimation, the majorityof the corporate churches today,
regardless of denomination, arevery busy doing the wrong
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things.
They're busy being relevant,being accepted, being
politically correct.
Now I've read my Bible, coverto cover, and nowhere in the
Word of God does it tellChristians that they are to be
any of those things.
In the book of First Opinionsit might say that, but that
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book's not in my Bible, it's notof the one of the 66.
We're told the opposite ofthose things.
We're told to be unpopular.
Wow, you say.
Man, I wish they'd have putthat in the brochure before I
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raised my hand, in thatWednesday night service or that
Saturday service, before I cameforward and let somebody pray
over me and accepted Jesus.
I wish I knew then what I knownow.
My estimation is as a believerin Christ.
You wouldn't change it, becauseI sure wouldn't.
I won't name specificdenominations here, because
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that's not my point.
The truth is the truth and itcuts deep and everybody knows
who everybody else is.
So I'm not going to namedenominations, but I could
easily tick them off on myfingers.
Denominations, whole bodies ofbelievers that have rewritten
creeds, abandoned biblicaldoctrine for sexual norms
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They've abandoned it or for sosecular norms rather Sorry,
secular norms.
I know you've seen it Rainbowflags on altars, pastors wearing
rainbow adornments as theypervert the very word of God.
Pastors who say all are welcome, that's fine, all are welcome.
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It's absolutely right.
A church is a group of sinners,a group of broken people.
A church is more hospital thanmuseum.
It's not stand up, sit down,pray, go home.
It is meet and accept your Lordand Savior.
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And the part that is not taughtis repent, as Jesus said
throughout the early gospels, inall four of them repent, for
the kingdom of God is at hand,and it's at hand.
Folks, I'm going to tell yousomething that I don't think
I've said, and that is that Ifirmly believe that my
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generation will be alive at therapture.
This generation, this time weare living, it is the next thing
on the prophetic calendar.
It's the next thing on theprophetic calendar and we're
going to be alive for therapture.
And what's going to be leftbehind for those of us who have
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given our lives to Jesus Christand are taken home in the blink
of an eye?
What's going to be left behindis the life we lived, our Bibles
, our Bible studies, our notes,our thoughts, for all of those
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people who wake up in a momentand say, wow, what just happened
?
But we'll get to that.
We'll get to that.
I point out simply.
I point out simply, gettingback to our text, I point out
simply, with regard to thecorporate church today, I point
out the perversions, of whichthere are many.
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I've named one for reasons oftime, but there are many.
I point this out simply to makeit plain that we Christians,
followers of the way, followersof Jesus, those who have
accepted Jesus Christ as theirpersonal Lord and Savior, we're
at war.
There's no other way to put it.
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The Bible tells us about the war.
Yes, god knew it was coming.
In all honesty, it's beenraging for thousands of years.
It's not a war against fleshand blood, but against
principalities and powers.
That's the unseen realm, guys,that's the spiritual realm,
principalities and powers.
Flip over to Ephesians 6.12,and if it's not highlighted in
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your Bible, highlight it todayand commit it to memory.
It says For we do not wrestleagainst flesh and blood, but
against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age,against spiritual hosts of
wickedness.
That's Ephesians 6.12.
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The spiritual war rages allaround us and as we read on,
jesus tells us how he will dealwith that with regard to this
church, and this is the reasonwhy I said in the open that
Thyatira was in big trouble.
Not cookie jar trouble, but bigtrouble.
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Listen to what Jesus says.
Pick up in verse 21, revelation, chapter 2.
And I gave her time, jesus says, to repent of her sexual
immorality.
And she did not repent.
Indeed, I will cast her into asickbed and those who commit
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adultery with her into greattribulation unless they repent
of their deeds.
So we're almost to the end ofthe road here with Thyatira, and
yet, and yet, jesus is stillreaching out his hand, giving us
a grace that we do not deserve,giving us a grace that we do
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not deserve.
And he's saying unless theyrepent of their deeds Verse 23,
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I will kill all their childrenwith death.
And all the churches shall knowthat I am he who searches the
minds and hearts and I will giveto each one of you according to
your works.
So it's coming.
The church today is in athousand kinds of trouble.
In the West, the Western churchtoday is in a thousand kinds of
trouble.
Church today is in a thousandkinds of trouble.
Church in America isunbelievably hobbled.
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They're on two legs of athree-legged stool.
And of course I'm not sayingthat all of the churches are
like that.
But what I'm saying is that thecorporate church has decided to
be relevant rather than right,to be popular rather than
unpopular.
And you know what's funny aboutthat, and this wasn't written
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down in any of my notes, it justkind of dawned on me as I was
speaking.
If you look at the churches whohave accepted churches who have
accepted the church thatrecently ordained their first
transgender bishop, the women,the gay and lesbian women in the
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pulpits, the gay men in thepulpits, all of these churches
who have gone this direction,their attendance is way down.
They're struggling.
They're fighting to survive.
They're fighting to keep theirhead above water and, friends, I
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would submit to you that that'sbecause God has taken his hand
of protection from that church.
It's what he says he's going todo here and worse.
So if he's going to do that toa little church in Thyatira, why
won't he do it to us Folks?
We have to begin to read ourBibles and understand that the
truth lives in those pages, nota opinion of truth, but the
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truth.
You must believe that the Wordof God is un is inerrant, so
that when you pick up your Bibleit is the truth of God's Word.
It is the way that we are tolive.
It is the way that we are toview the world around us.
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It is the way that we are toshow mercy, grace and love to
those that don't know him.
Matthew 28 says that we are togo into all the world to make
disciples of all nations.
It's a loose paraphrase, butyou understand.
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Jesus is giving a dire warningto the corrupt church at
Thyatira and to the church today.
I can hear the words of mymother.
When I would get into trouble,she'd say do you want me to tell
your dad?
Yikes, no, I never wanted thatbecause I knew that the
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consequences would be harsh, tosay the very least.
And in this case, the fatherknows and he is going to meter
out punishment as applicable.
Quote and I will give to eachof you according to your works
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that's up in verse 23.
That's up in verse 23.
Folks, we can't you and I, fromwhere we sit, don't have any
control over what the corporatechurch, the mainline church,
whatever you want to call them,what they're doing today, okay,
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how they're doing things, howthey're choosing to do things,
the rewriting of the creeds, therewriting of scripture to meet
their needs.
But we can pray for them and wecan walk the walk of the
righteous.
Narrow is the path.
We have to walk the walk of therighteous and I want you to
remember something we have towalk the walk of the righteous
and I want you to remembersomething these people the
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saddest part about it is thatthose people who will be left
behind in the rapture, thosepeople who will be left behind,
will spend a lot of timethinking that they were right,
thinking that they should havebeen taken.
They'll make every excuse inthe book and there's no one I
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wouldn't want to see in heaven,and this is why I do this, this
is why I sit here on a Sundayafternoon for a podcast that's
going to drop in two weeks.
I'm here now, sharing this withas many people as will hear the
sound of my voice, and with that, as we close, I want to say
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that there is hope.
Fear not.
There's hope.
The people of the church andfor the people, the church and
Jesus ends it this way.
Now, to you I say, and to therest in Thyatira, as many do not
have the doctrine, who have notknown the depths of Satan, as
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they say, I will put on you noother burden.
So, in other words, jesus issaying look, if you didn't know,
you weren't aware, you're fine.
If you were against it, youwere fine, you're fine.
(27:26):
Jesus is always gracious, healways shows us mercy, but hold
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fast.
He says what you have till I 26.
Now, what he's saying is holdfast, help is on the way.
As the old Mercy Me song says,I'm going to take care of you,
those of you who stand fast andstay true to my words.
I'm going to stand fast, andthat's our message today.
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Folks, you and I can't changewhat's happening corporately in
the church.
We can't change what differentdenominations have perverted and
I would say committed heresy inmany different ways.
We can't change any of that,but what we can do is square up
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our walk with Christ, because hesays right here that if we hold
fast what we have until hecomes to us that overcomes and
keeps his works until the end,to him he will give power.
Finish the sections and he sayswhat we're going to be blessed
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with.
He shall rule with a rod ofiron.
They shall be dashed to pieceslike potter's vessels, as I also
have received from my Father,and I will give him the morning
star.
You know, churches aren'tperfect places.
Like I've said before, churchesare hospitals.
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Broken people come there to bemade well.
Broken people come there to bemade well.
I've said a hundred times don'ttry to get right before you show
up at church.
Show up at church and let themhelp you get right.
And if you see things withinyour church body that don't ring
true to scripture, scripture isthe measuring stick and the
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measuring tape for everythingthat's done in the church.
Or scripture is the measuringstick and the measuring tape for
everything that's done in thechurch.
And if, in fact, you see thingsin your church, you pray on it,
you talk to your pastor, you doall of the things that you need
to do and if, at the end of theday, as Jesus told his
disciples when he sent them out,if the grace of God does not
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greet you, then shake the dustfrom your feet.
You may have to leave a churchand find another.
You may have to lose friends Ihave, as I sit here today, I'm
thinking about specific peoplewho absolutely disagree with me,
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disagree with Scripture.
They've dug themselves in andbecause of that, I haven't
spoken to them in many, many,many years, probably 20 years, I
think of just friends andpeople that I know,
acquaintances that I've made inthis life, and people who I
thought were deep, deep friends,that were going to be lifelong
friends.
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And God said no, walk away.
I'll deal with them.
You don't need to deal withthem.
Tell them the truth, not yourtruth, but the truth and then,
if they don't accept, shake thedust from your feet, but
continue to pray for them,continue to love them, continue
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to.
If they call and ask to go outfor coffee, don't deny it Go out
for coffee.
This is how we handle it, folks.
The church is in a very darkplace right now.
Not all of them, but a goodnumber of them are in a very
dark place.
And if you're in a dark placetoday and some of this has hit
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home to you and you would say tome, larry, I want to have a
relationship with Jesus.
And you would say to me Larry,I want to have a relationship
with Jesus, I want to turnthings around in my life.
I've made compromises, I ammorally corrupt, I'm broken.
All you have to do is talk tohim.
You can say, dear Jesus, I knowI'm a sinner in need of a
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Savior, I'm sorry for my sins,I'm sorry for the compromises
that I've made and thecorruption that it's caused in
my life, my family and my joband my finances and everything
else.
Lord, I'm very sorry and, lordGod, I want you to be my Lord,
my God, my Savior and my friend.
I accept you today.
I ask you to accept my humbleapology and I know that you will
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.
Lord God, I can't wait to seewhat you have next for me as I
begin to follow you now and forthe rest of the days of my life.
Thank you, jesus, amen.
And if you prayed that prayeror something like it, welcome to
the family of God.
As I said last week, I'm goingto have some resources in the
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coming weeks, but the big thingyou can do right now you could
reach out to me at Save to Servethat's, save the number to
serve, 1969 at Outlookcom, orthat's the best way to reach out
to me.
You can hit me up on socialstoo.
The thoughts I have toward youon Facebook, also the thoughts I
(33:13):
have toward you on Instagram, Ipost there daily, so you can
hit me up and send me questionsthat way.
Or the other thing you can doand this is a must, you have to
do this go find a church, abible believing church, where
you're going to be able to bringyour bible into that room and
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learn about the love of jesuschrist and the plan that god has
for your life.
Friends, that's all the time Ihave today and and as always I
thank you for listening I askthat you would keep me in prayer
as this moves forward.
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Also, know that we've got acouple of things coming in the
hopper here.
I've set up a paywall, a $3subscription for bonus content.
I'm going to start doing aconversation I'm thinking maybe
monthly or biweekly about worldevents from a biblical point of
(34:17):
view, because I think that'svery, very important now as well
.
So if you'd like to get a holdof that, you can go to the
website atthethoughtsihaveetowardyoucom
and click on the dollar sign andsubscribe for $3 a month.
I hope that you'll do that.
Again, as I said in my write-upon that piece, I don't do this
for the money.
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I'm not doing it for the money.
I'm doing it to share thegospel.
That's all I'm doing, but I'mtrying to build a brand here.
That's all I'm doing, but I'mtrying to build a brand here.
So if you listen to thispodcast and you enjoyed it,
please follow the podcast.
Either subscribe or, if you'reon Apple, follow the podcast.
That's always free.
(34:58):
These Bible studies will alwaysbe free and give a five-star
review so that we can begin tobeat the algorithm and get our
name out there and climb thoseranks so that more people can
see it.
Because, as I've said beforemany times and I'll say it again
, there's no one I wouldn't wantto see in heaven.
Until next time, gang, make itcount and be blessed.
Good afternoon, gang.
It's Larry.
Again with the thoughts I havetoward you, I hope that you're
well today as we dive into ournext study, the study on the
fourth church in the sevenchurches in Asia Minor.
It's a study that I've calledCompromise Leads to Corruption.
(00:23):
Open your Bibles we're going tobe turning a lot today, so open
your Bibles to the core text,which is Revelation 2, 18 to 29.
Put a finger in Psalm 1, verse1.
And also then we're going toreference Ephesians 6, 12.
(00:43):
And then we're going to finishthe section.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, I give youthanks for today.
I give you thanks for renewedenergy, renewed steadfastness,
lord, to the mission that you'vecalled me on and all of the
people that will hear thesemessages in perpetuity.
(01:06):
Lord, we are at war.
We are at war against not fleshand blood, but principalities
and powers, lord, and we need tocontinue to understand that
compromise is a dangerous pathto walk down because it leads to
(01:27):
corruption.
Corruption is the stage beforedeath of a church body.
Lord and Lord, as we getthrough this study, there are
going to be some things that arehard to hear.
There are going to be somethings that were hard to say,
hard to write, but I feel thatthey need to be said.
(01:48):
I feel led by you to say them,lord.
God, I give you thanks for thecourage that is born of you to
know that you have my back andthat you are my rear guard.
I pray for everyone within thesound of my voice, wherever
today finds them.
I pray for everyone, within thesound of my voice, wherever
today finds them, that theywould be at peace and that they
(02:08):
would know your love and yourgrace and your mercy, in Jesus'
name, amen.
All right, if you're able, openup your Bibles to Revelation.
Book of Revelation, chapter 2.
We're working through it,chapter 2, we're almost done
with the chapter here, verses 18to 29,.
(02:31):
So that's a long section.
It's 11 verses, but we're goingto get through it today and, as
I said, we are moving throughthat study of the churches as we
continue in the book ofRevelation.
This week, as we look at thefourth letter from Jesus to the
church in Thyatira, there are afew items to note as we get
(02:51):
started.
First, this letter to thechurch in Thyatira is the
longest of the seven letters andThyatira, by contrast, is the
smallest church of the seven andJesus has a lot to say.
Second, they are in trouble.
They're in big trouble, and I'mnot talking about I stole a
(03:13):
cookie from the cookie jar kindof trouble.
No, no, no.
They're in danger of beingswallowed whole by the evil born
of compromise, which leads tocorruption.
The last time we were togetherwe learned about compromise.
Compromise is the predecessorto corruption.
Come with me to the center ofyour Bibles and for those that
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may be new to the faith or newto navigating your scriptures,
it's really pretty cool.
If you put your Bible on itsspine and let it fall open, it
will open to the center of yourBible.
And in the center of your Bibleis the book of Psalms, and
we're not going to go real farin Psalms.
So wherever you landed, go tothe left or the right and find
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Psalm 1, verse 1.
And it says blessed is the manwho walks in the counsel of the,
who walks not in the counsel ofthe ungodly, nor stands in the
path of sinners, nor sits in theseat of the scornful.
That's Psalm 1.1, new KingJames Version.
(04:17):
That's how compromise starts,and we alluded to that last time
starts and we alluded to thatlast time.
It starts with little thingsand then those things build on
themselves until you're in somuch trouble that you just can't
find a way out.
But that's how compromise starts.
We decide that something we aredoing is not such a big deal.
(04:38):
Now, for example, let's saywe're at the gym, our wives are
at home with the kids and westart watching a woman.
We let our mind wander.
I don't need to say, gentlemen,what we're thinking about, do I
?
She's young enough to be yourdaughter, never mind that she's
(04:59):
someone's daughter, and you'remarried with children.
We justify it as I can't beconvicted of what I'm thinking,
right?
Well, the story goes on andover the next several weeks,
your gym attendance goes up tothe point that your wife begins
to notice and compliments you onyour doggedness.
(05:21):
You're a dog, all right.
Yeah, you're a dog, alright.
You started meeting with thisgirl for scheduled tandem
workouts.
She's so complimentary andfunny and attractive.
It's not a problem.
You think what's wrong withhaving a female friend Ever been
(05:43):
there?
Ever been there?
It's okay, but that's that'swhere it starts.
Right there, let's pick back upin Psalm 1.
The verse itself has three parts.
You're walking in the counselof the ungodly, then you stand
(06:03):
in the path of sinners and thenyou sit in the counsel of the
ungodly, then you stand in thepath of sinners and then you sit
in the seat of the scornful.
Okay, these are the threethings that happen as compromise
leads to corruption In theexample.
You've already ticked off thefirst two.
You've already ticked off thefirst two.
(06:27):
You walked in the counsel ofthe ungodly.
Well, okay, so, larry, thatwould mean that I took ungodly
counsel.
Did I really do that?
Yes, you did.
From who you say?
Well, yourself, never, ever,forget that the human heart is
inherently sinful, regardless ofwhat the world tells you.
(06:50):
We were born to sin.
We were born to that.
Follow your heart is thebiggest lie that's ever been
perpetrated by mass media, massentertainment and the secular
world.
Because your heart can bedeceived.
Your heart can be deceived.
(07:11):
The Bible says that all havesinned and fallen short of the
glory of God.
That's Romans 3.23.
Then you stood in the path ofsinners.
When you approach the girl andcontinue to walk that path with
(07:36):
each deepening interaction withher, lastly and I think you can
see where this is going we willsit in the seat of the scornful.
We'll justify that too.
It's just a fling, it's anaffair.
It's no big deal right.
You know, I was taught yearsago and I've never forgotten
this either that as Christianswe should call things what they
(08:02):
are.
It's not an affair, it's not afling, it's not any of those
things.
What society brushes off is sinin the eyes of God, and that
sin has a name it's calledadultery, and this is just one
example of the kind ofcompromise we're talking about.
(08:26):
However, it's an easy exampleto use because it makes my point
.
You can think of a dozen otherexamples, I'm certain, and I'd
love to hear some examples fromyour own life.
You can drop me a note onsocials or you can let me know
by email what you think of those, because I do have a fan mail
(08:51):
section on my site.
So it was adultery from thebeginning, though.
Back to our example, make nomistake about it.
Jesus said, but I say to you,whoever looks at a woman with
lust for her has alreadycommitted adultery with her in
his heart.
It's Matthew 5, 28, new KingJames.
(09:13):
So back at the very beginning,when you went to the gym that
morning and you saw that girland your mind started to wonder,
right there, right there, inthat moment, in that period of
time, that's when the adulterywas committed, right there.
(09:35):
It's a hard bar.
Jesus doesn't make anyexception for it, but it's a
hard bar and that, friends, isthe path to corruption.
As we read the letter toThyatira, we see a fall into not
only danger, nah, nah, nah.
(09:56):
Thyatira is not only walkingthe path of sin.
They are sitting in the seat ofthe scornful, as we learned
back in Psalm 1.
They've completed the walk.
They've stood with the seat ofthe scornful, as we learned back
in Psalm 1.
They've completed the walk.
Okay, they've stood with theungodly, they've walked and then
they've sat.
So let's pick it up at thebeginning of the letter here,
(10:20):
verse 17 to 19.
And to the angel in the churchin Thyatira write of the letter
here, verse 17 to 19.
And to the angel in the churchin Thyatira, write these things,
says the Son of God, with hiseyes like a flame of fire and
his feet like fine brass.
I know your works, love,service, faith and your patience
.
As for your works, the last ismore than the first.
(10:44):
Hmm, okay, jesus is describedhere as having eyes of fire and
feet of fine brass.
He's coming in victory andjudgment.
Okay, as we talked about lastweek, he's coming in victory and
judgment.
He praises the church for theirworks love, service, faith and
patience, saying their last,most recent works are more than
(11:11):
their first.
The phrasing here can be missedby the casual reader.
Jesus is saying you are growingas a body of believers.
The last is better than thefirst, meaning that when you
started out you weren't doing sogreat, but now you're doing
better.
That's good news.
That's good news.
(11:32):
The word doesn't give anyspecifics here as to what they
did or how they came to be, orwhat started it or what happened
in the beginning.
Suffice it to say, in someaspects they're moving forward.
However, there's a caveat, andhere it comes.
Nevertheless, I have a fewthings against you, because you
(11:57):
allow the woman Jezebel, whocalls herself a prophetess, to
teach and seduce my servants, tocommit sexual immorality and
eat things sacrificed to idols.
Now, if we go back to thechurch we studied last week,
okay, if we go back to thechurch we studied last week,
(12:20):
this was the same statement thatJesus made to that church.
That church is just not as fardown the line to corruption as
Thyatira is.
Right.
That's the difference here.
These letters.
It works its way down to theend, which is the death of a
(12:44):
church.
Okay, so I'll admit that Istared at my blinking cursor for
weeks after reading andpondering that verse as a
podcaster and a writer and ateacher of biblical truth.
It was hard.
(13:06):
It was hard to write, and itwas not because I didn't
understand the verse, butbecause I did.
And I do understand it BecauseI see it in my mind.
See it because I see it, rather, and my mind wants to apply it
to the circumstances of thecorporate church today.
(13:31):
The problem is what if I paintwith too broad a brush In the
social media age?
If I'm not careful, my wordswill be twisted, taken out of
context and used to defame me.
More concerning than that ishow Satan will stir people up
and attempt to do damage to thecause of Christ.
A couple of things.
The cause of Christ is Jesus'cause.
(13:52):
I am but a cog in the wheel toall his plan.
He knows the end from thebeginning.
The Bible tells us Not much Ican do to screw that up.
From the beginning, the Bibletells us not much I can do to
screw that up.
The truth of the matter is mypersonal popularity is of no
concern.
The truth is the truth, and mycalling is to speak the truth
(14:15):
with the understanding thatthere is no one I wouldn't want
to see in heaven.
That's the reason why I do this.
It's on that mandate that Istand, and everybody needs to
understand that, because what'scoming now is some hard truth,
some hard truth, but it's truthnonetheless.
(14:37):
Just because people don't likeit doesn't mean it's not true.
The letter to the church inThyatira is a letter to so much
of the church today.
The church today is busy, verybusy.
But you know what?
In my estimation, the majorityof the corporate churches today,
regardless of denomination, arevery busy doing the wrong
(15:02):
things.
They're busy being relevant,being accepted, being
politically correct.
Now I've read my Bible, coverto cover, and nowhere in the
Word of God does it tellChristians that they are to be
any of those things.
In the book of First Opinionsit might say that, but that
(15:23):
book's not in my Bible, it's notof the one of the 66.
We're told the opposite ofthose things.
We're told to be unpopular.
Wow, you say.
Man, I wish they'd have putthat in the brochure before I
(15:46):
raised my hand, in thatWednesday night service or that
Saturday service, before I cameforward and let somebody pray
over me and accepted Jesus.
I wish I knew then what I knownow.
My estimation is as a believerin Christ.
You wouldn't change it, becauseI sure wouldn't.
I won't name specificdenominations here, because
(16:07):
that's not my point.
The truth is the truth and itcuts deep and everybody knows
who everybody else is.
So I'm not going to namedenominations, but I could
easily tick them off on myfingers.
Denominations, whole bodies ofbelievers that have rewritten
creeds, abandoned biblicaldoctrine for sexual norms
(16:30):
They've abandoned it or for sosecular norms rather Sorry,
secular norms.
I know you've seen it Rainbowflags on altars, pastors wearing
rainbow adornments as theypervert the very word of God.
Pastors who say all are welcome, that's fine, all are welcome.
(17:02):
It's absolutely right.
A church is a group of sinners,a group of broken people.
A church is more hospital thanmuseum.
It's not stand up, sit down,pray, go home.
It is meet and accept your Lordand Savior.
(17:23):
And the part that is not taughtis repent, as Jesus said
throughout the early gospels, inall four of them repent, for
the kingdom of God is at hand,and it's at hand.
Folks, I'm going to tell yousomething that I don't think
I've said, and that is that Ifirmly believe that my
(17:48):
generation will be alive at therapture.
This generation, this time weare living, it is the next thing
on the prophetic calendar.
It's the next thing on theprophetic calendar and we're
going to be alive for therapture.
And what's going to be leftbehind for those of us who have
(18:13):
given our lives to Jesus Christand are taken home in the blink
of an eye?
What's going to be left behindis the life we lived, our Bibles
, our Bible studies, our notes,our thoughts, for all of those
(18:33):
people who wake up in a momentand say, wow, what just happened
?
But we'll get to that.
We'll get to that.
I point out simply.
I point out simply, gettingback to our text, I point out
simply, with regard to thecorporate church today, I point
out the perversions, of whichthere are many.
(18:56):
I've named one for reasons oftime, but there are many.
I point this out simply to makeit plain that we Christians,
followers of the way, followersof Jesus, those who have
accepted Jesus Christ as theirpersonal Lord and Savior, we're
at war.
There's no other way to put it.
(19:17):
The Bible tells us about the war.
Yes, god knew it was coming.
In all honesty, it's beenraging for thousands of years.
It's not a war against fleshand blood, but against
principalities and powers.
That's the unseen realm, guys,that's the spiritual realm,
principalities and powers.
Flip over to Ephesians 6.12,and if it's not highlighted in
(19:38):
your Bible, highlight it todayand commit it to memory.
It says For we do not wrestleagainst flesh and blood, but
against principalities, againstpowers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age,against spiritual hosts of
wickedness.
That's Ephesians 6.12.
(20:04):
The spiritual war rages allaround us and as we read on,
jesus tells us how he will dealwith that with regard to this
church, and this is the reasonwhy I said in the open that
Thyatira was in big trouble.
Not cookie jar trouble, but bigtrouble.
(20:26):
Listen to what Jesus says.
Pick up in verse 21, revelation, chapter 2.
And I gave her time, jesus says, to repent of her sexual
immorality.
And she did not repent.
Indeed, I will cast her into asickbed and those who commit
(20:48):
adultery with her into greattribulation unless they repent
of their deeds.
So we're almost to the end ofthe road here with Thyatira, and
yet, and yet, jesus is stillreaching out his hand, giving us
a grace that we do not deserve,giving us a grace that we do
(21:11):
not deserve.
And he's saying unless theyrepent of their deeds Verse 23,
(21:34):
I will kill all their childrenwith death.
And all the churches shall knowthat I am he who searches the
minds and hearts and I will giveto each one of you according to
your works.
So it's coming.
The church today is in athousand kinds of trouble.
In the West, the Western churchtoday is in a thousand kinds of
trouble.
Church today is in a thousandkinds of trouble.
Church in America isunbelievably hobbled.
(21:56):
They're on two legs of athree-legged stool.
And of course I'm not sayingthat all of the churches are
like that.
But what I'm saying is that thecorporate church has decided to
be relevant rather than right,to be popular rather than
unpopular.
And you know what's funny aboutthat, and this wasn't written
(22:19):
down in any of my notes, it justkind of dawned on me as I was
speaking.
If you look at the churches whohave accepted churches who have
accepted the church thatrecently ordained their first
transgender bishop, the women,the gay and lesbian women in the
(22:41):
pulpits, the gay men in thepulpits, all of these churches
who have gone this direction,their attendance is way down.
They're struggling.
They're fighting to survive.
They're fighting to keep theirhead above water and, friends, I
(23:06):
would submit to you that that'sbecause God has taken his hand
of protection from that church.
It's what he says he's going todo here and worse.
So if he's going to do that toa little church in Thyatira, why
won't he do it to us Folks?
We have to begin to read ourBibles and understand that the
truth lives in those pages, nota opinion of truth, but the
(23:33):
truth.
You must believe that the Wordof God is un is inerrant, so
that when you pick up your Bibleit is the truth of God's Word.
It is the way that we are tolive.
It is the way that we are toview the world around us.
(23:54):
It is the way that we are toshow mercy, grace and love to
those that don't know him.
Matthew 28 says that we are togo into all the world to make
disciples of all nations.
It's a loose paraphrase, butyou understand.
(24:17):
Jesus is giving a dire warningto the corrupt church at
Thyatira and to the church today.
I can hear the words of mymother.
When I would get into trouble,she'd say do you want me to tell
your dad?
Yikes, no, I never wanted thatbecause I knew that the
(24:39):
consequences would be harsh, tosay the very least.
And in this case, the fatherknows and he is going to meter
out punishment as applicable.
Quote and I will give to eachof you according to your works
(25:02):
that's up in verse 23.
That's up in verse 23.
Folks, we can't you and I, fromwhere we sit, don't have any
control over what the corporatechurch, the mainline church,
whatever you want to call them,what they're doing today, okay,
(25:26):
how they're doing things, howthey're choosing to do things,
the rewriting of the creeds, therewriting of scripture to meet
their needs.
But we can pray for them and wecan walk the walk of the
righteous.
Narrow is the path.
We have to walk the walk of therighteous and I want you to
remember something we have towalk the walk of the righteous
and I want you to remembersomething these people the
(25:52):
saddest part about it is thatthose people who will be left
behind in the rapture, thosepeople who will be left behind,
will spend a lot of timethinking that they were right,
thinking that they should havebeen taken.
They'll make every excuse inthe book and there's no one I
(26:15):
wouldn't want to see in heaven,and this is why I do this, this
is why I sit here on a Sundayafternoon for a podcast that's
going to drop in two weeks.
I'm here now, sharing this withas many people as will hear the
sound of my voice, and with that, as we close, I want to say
(26:39):
that there is hope.
Fear not.
There's hope.
The people of the church andfor the people, the church and
Jesus ends it this way.
Now, to you I say, and to therest in Thyatira, as many do not
have the doctrine, who have notknown the depths of Satan, as
(27:04):
they say, I will put on you noother burden.
So, in other words, jesus issaying look, if you didn't know,
you weren't aware, you're fine.
If you were against it, youwere fine, you're fine.
(27:26):
Jesus is always gracious, healways shows us mercy, but hold
(27:51):
fast.
He says what you have till I 26.
Now, what he's saying is holdfast, help is on the way.
As the old Mercy Me song says,I'm going to take care of you,
those of you who stand fast andstay true to my words.
I'm going to stand fast, andthat's our message today.
(28:13):
Folks, you and I can't changewhat's happening corporately in
the church.
We can't change what differentdenominations have perverted and
I would say committed heresy inmany different ways.
We can't change any of that,but what we can do is square up
(28:33):
our walk with Christ, because hesays right here that if we hold
fast what we have until hecomes to us that overcomes and
keeps his works until the end,to him he will give power.
Finish the sections and he sayswhat we're going to be blessed
(28:55):
with.
He shall rule with a rod ofiron.
They shall be dashed to pieceslike potter's vessels, as I also
have received from my Father,and I will give him the morning
star.
You know, churches aren'tperfect places.
Like I've said before, churchesare hospitals.
(29:20):
Broken people come there to bemade well.
Broken people come there to bemade well.
I've said a hundred times don'ttry to get right before you show
up at church.
Show up at church and let themhelp you get right.
And if you see things withinyour church body that don't ring
true to scripture, scripture isthe measuring stick and the
(29:43):
measuring tape for everythingthat's done in the church.
Or scripture is the measuringstick and the measuring tape for
everything that's done in thechurch.
And if, in fact, you see thingsin your church, you pray on it,
you talk to your pastor, you doall of the things that you need
to do and if, at the end of theday, as Jesus told his
disciples when he sent them out,if the grace of God does not
(30:10):
greet you, then shake the dustfrom your feet.
You may have to leave a churchand find another.
You may have to lose friends Ihave, as I sit here today, I'm
thinking about specific peoplewho absolutely disagree with me,
(30:31):
disagree with Scripture.
They've dug themselves in andbecause of that, I haven't
spoken to them in many, many,many years, probably 20 years, I
think of just friends andpeople that I know,
acquaintances that I've made inthis life, and people who I
thought were deep, deep friends,that were going to be lifelong
friends.
(30:51):
And God said no, walk away.
I'll deal with them.
You don't need to deal withthem.
Tell them the truth, not yourtruth, but the truth and then,
if they don't accept, shake thedust from your feet, but
continue to pray for them,continue to love them, continue
(31:15):
to.
If they call and ask to go outfor coffee, don't deny it Go out
for coffee.
This is how we handle it, folks.
The church is in a very darkplace right now.
Not all of them, but a goodnumber of them are in a very
dark place.
And if you're in a dark placetoday and some of this has hit
(31:39):
home to you and you would say tome, larry, I want to have a
relationship with Jesus.
And you would say to me Larry,I want to have a relationship
with Jesus, I want to turnthings around in my life.
I've made compromises, I ammorally corrupt, I'm broken.
All you have to do is talk tohim.
You can say, dear Jesus, I knowI'm a sinner in need of a
(32:05):
Savior, I'm sorry for my sins,I'm sorry for the compromises
that I've made and thecorruption that it's caused in
my life, my family and my joband my finances and everything
else.
Lord, I'm very sorry and, lordGod, I want you to be my Lord,
my God, my Savior and my friend.
I accept you today.
I ask you to accept my humbleapology and I know that you will
(32:28):
.
Lord God, I can't wait to seewhat you have next for me as I
begin to follow you now and forthe rest of the days of my life.
Thank you, jesus, amen.
And if you prayed that prayeror something like it, welcome to
the family of God.
As I said last week, I'm goingto have some resources in the
(32:50):
coming weeks, but the big thingyou can do right now you could
reach out to me at Save to Servethat's, save the number to
serve, 1969 at Outlookcom, orthat's the best way to reach out
to me.
You can hit me up on socialstoo.
The thoughts I have toward youon Facebook, also the thoughts I
(33:13):
have toward you on Instagram, Ipost there daily, so you can
hit me up and send me questionsthat way.
Or the other thing you can doand this is a must, you have to
do this go find a church, abible believing church, where
you're going to be able to bringyour bible into that room and
(33:34):
learn about the love of jesuschrist and the plan that god has
for your life.
Friends, that's all the time Ihave today and and as always I
thank you for listening I askthat you would keep me in prayer
as this moves forward.
(33:54):
Also, know that we've got acouple of things coming in the
hopper here.
I've set up a paywall, a $3subscription for bonus content.
I'm going to start doing aconversation I'm thinking maybe
monthly or biweekly about worldevents from a biblical point of
(34:17):
view, because I think that'svery, very important now as well
.
So if you'd like to get a holdof that, you can go to the
website atthethoughtsihaveetowardyoucom
and click on the dollar sign andsubscribe for $3 a month.
I hope that you'll do that.
Again, as I said in my write-upon that piece, I don't do this
for the money.
(34:37):
I'm not doing it for the money.
I'm doing it to share thegospel.
That's all I'm doing, but I'mtrying to build a brand here.
That's all I'm doing, but I'mtrying to build a brand here.
So if you listen to thispodcast and you enjoyed it,
please follow the podcast.
Either subscribe or, if you'reon Apple, follow the podcast.
That's always free.
(34:58):
These Bible studies will alwaysbe free and give a five-star
review so that we can begin tobeat the algorithm and get our
name out there and climb thoseranks so that more people can
see it.
Because, as I've said beforemany times and I'll say it again
, there's no one I wouldn't wantto see in heaven.
Until next time, gang, make itcount and be blessed.
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