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Alright, so keep your place here in 1st Corinthians 13. We'll be coming back to it flip back if you would to Revelation chapter 2 I should say flip forward to Revelation chapter 2 We are continuing going through the seven churches revelation so we are on Thyatira tonight Revelation chapter 2 and Starting in verse number 18 is where We're gonna get our passage on this church Bible reads in Revelation 2 18 and Unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write these things saith the Son of God who hath his eyes Like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass I know thy works in charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel Which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things Sacrificed unto idols and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not Behold, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation Except they repent of their deeds and I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he Which searcheth the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works But unto you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not done Excuse me as have not this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak I will put upon you none other burden, but that which he have already Hold fast till I come and he that overcometh and keepeth my works in the end of him Will I give power over the nation's 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 so that is the the letter to The church in Thyatira will be going over this now a little bit more closely and in depth in Revelation 2 Verse number 18, of course starts off with kind of more of a physical description of the Son of God here It says his eyes are like a flame of fire his feet are like fine brass I'm not gonna focus on that there obviously the physical appearance is referenced in other places I want to focus more just on the works of the church though tonight So we're gonna kind of skip past that verse number 19 says I know thy works like it starts off with every church I know that works this is in charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first so It sounds like this church is doing a lot and and and and Jesus is really giving them a lot of credit for the works that they're doing the last works or even more than the first and They have really good attributes here as well. So even though the majority of the letter is Focused on the problem is focused on some some wickedness and some bad things that are going on in the church. I Don't want to take I don't want to skip past the good stuff because this the good stuff that ever is actually really good and To me, it's kind of interesting how churches can have a lot of really good things But oftentimes it just takes one major problem or a couple things that that can make God extremely angry and And be willing to just remove the candlestick over Because those things are serious there goes with not little things I'm not trying to under say that just you know charity service faith Patience are all very good attributes and they're very good characteristics and fruits of the Spirit, right? So it's a spirit filled church, obviously I mean they're all the churches have to be in order to be legitimate churches Anyway, they're full of saved believers, you know, and they have some really good attributes in that first one charity I want to spend a little bit of time. I could preach the entire sermon just on charity It's a great subject. We started in 1st Corinthians 13 Let's let's go back to that But just so we understand, you know how important it is for a church to have charity, you know the Bible explains a lot about charity, of course in 1st Corinthians 13 and a few other passages as well, but this is this is a really that this gets to the heart of the works that you do and We're gonna see that in 1st Corinthians 13 that you can be doing a whole bunch of works You could be putting forth a lot of effort and if the charity isn't in it If you don't have the proper love and the proper care into what you're doing, then it's basically all for nothing It's just vanity at that point and in all the works that normally would be good works If you had the charity in it, it's just kind of like whatever so charity has to do with where your heart is okay, and it's and it's the proper love that you need to have and You know, I preach on this subject in the past charity the world has a has a skewed understanding of the word charity and At least it's different than what the Bible teaches Right people today if you talk about charity, you're gonna think of an organization That may give money or give food or clothing or something like that to people in need right? I mean, that's your fire most basic Understanding of just the word charity in the world today you have These really really rich people who have their Philanthropy and they're in their charitable organizations and they you know, they always sound the trumpet When they give a whole bunch of money Towards some charity or charitable cause or their own foundation that does all these things, right? And it's always they have their own foundation like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation Boy I'm sure that has nothing to do with tax purposes right that that it's They're just controlling how their own money gets spent tax-free or whatever, right? Like it's a bunch of nonsense And the charity I don't want to get out too far off from that either But the charity at the world thinks of when you start reading first Corinthians 13, you're gonna realize that Oh, that's not charity at all. It really isn't I mean even just giving a bunch of money to give clothing to people isn't By itself charity That's not what charity is. Look at verse number one in 1st Corinthians 13. The Bible says though. I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and Have not charity. I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal and that means, you know You can know all these great languages even an angelic an angelic language, right? Like you just know all these languages and he says if I know all these if I if I'm speaking with these great languages But there's no charity in the words that I'm speaking in the language. I'm speaking I Might it might as well just be some some trumpet blowing just some sounding brass I'm thinking oh just just something making noise a noise maker without the charity behind the words I'm just a noise maker regardless of if I know every single language on the planet and can speak them all If there's no charity involved in what I'm speaking It's basically good for nothing We're see that same concept as he goes through multiple things here verse number two And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge boy who wouldn't want to have that Understanding all mysteries all knowledge just to know these great truths man. That would be awesome to know that he says Oh, I have all that and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains What great faith right Jesus said if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed That you could say unto this mountain to be cast into the sea and it would be done, right? He Says that I could have all that faith. We said if I have not charity I am nothing All the mysteries all the knowledge all the faith to move mountains and he says without the proper heart without the charity It's nothing and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and this is the way that Commonly people will be considering. Well, that's charity, right? Hey, he's giving all of his goods He's given everything that he has just to feed the poor. Wow. What a charitable guy what you know He says though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity It profiteth me nothing. So it's possible to give things away To do all these great works. It's possible to do all those things and not have charity and for that not to be charity And Then it goes on to describe what charity is Charity suffereth long and is kind charity envieth not Charity vaunteth not itself is not puffed up. I Mean think about that right there with the people who claim to have all this charity towards people There's some of the most proud people in the world But You know what charity is Humble charity doesn't vaunt itself and lift itself up over oh look at how great I am the ones that want to sound the trumpet before they give so Everyone can see and you get the accolades of men So everyone knows how great I am and I gave all this money to help these people here That is not charity. And you know what that's gonna do nothing a lot of these people have a works-based Salvation mentality and they think that all these great things that I did they're gonna come back to me one day when I you know When I pass on it's that no You had you didn't have charity and it's good for nothing All the stuff you thought it was good for it's not good for anything It says verse 5 doth not behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own It's not all about you It truly is about the others So when you're doing things that would be considered charitable when you're doing things to help other people really is about them In no way is it about you? You're not seeking yourself and your own Lord your own things first. You truly have the heart To seek the other person's benefit It's not easily provoked thinketh no evil verse 6 rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth Beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things charity never faileth But whether there be prophecies they shall fail Whether there be tongues they shall cease whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away So it brings up again these these these real great gifts and things That are spiritual prophecies tongues knowledge is all great stuff But it's saying that charity never fails All those things they may come and go The languages comes and goes the knowledge will come and go right But the charity never fails and then at verse number 13 says and now abideth faith Hope charity these three, but the greatest of these is charity Charity holds a high regard in Scripture and in a kind of a high level of spirituality in an individual's spiritual walk with God turn if you go to Colossians chapter 3 Or actually yeah, you know what go ahead turn to Colossians chapter 3 I wasn't gonna go too far in depth on this But it is important to note that Jesus is making a mention that they have charity this church has charity And you'll see like 1st Corinthians 13 is commonly quoted at weddings and things like that and they always use Modern versions that are not the King James Version which just uses the word love now charity is love The way that charity is used though. It is it is a very specific and unique type of love, right? It's it's not that the word love in general is just completely wrong But when we have a language that's able to separate Words into having these different meanings charity has a root word that has to do with like caring and thinking of other people You can say well love does too it does But there's love is more broad Right, and it's it's not as specific especially the common usage of the word. So charity is the proper word that has to do with with really that that thought of You Know loving people and putting them before you that the mind of Christ is that is that charitable mind Colossians 3 look at verse number 12 the Bible reads put on therefore as the elect of God holy and beloved bowels of mercies kindness humbleness of mind meekness long suffering For bearing one another and forgiving one another if any man of a quarrel against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye Verse 14 says and above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness So, I mean, there's a lot of things written there with your humbleness of mind meekness long suffering Bounties and a lot of these cross over as attributes of charity anyways, but above all of these things It just says, you know put on charity and that is the bond of perfectness. So Very important aspect of your of your Christian life is to have charity and this church at Thyatira the first thing he mentions of their works is you guys got charity and That's a great thing. They have charity They have service which means they're serving other people They're they're doing ministry work where they're supposed to exactly what they're supposed to be doing Having the right charity having the right attitude and serving other people and faith and Patience patience means they're able to endure They're able to do our hard times and go through a lot and that works and the last before so this church is doing a lot There's a lot of things going on here and with the right heart and the right attitude But we're gonna get to the point to where where there's a huge problem within the church and It's basically this one thing is the problem But it's it's that big of I mean think about like if it wasn't for Jezebel This would be one of those great churches. I bet that Jesus wouldn't have anything else to say Negative about because of the things that it mentions here the charity service faith pay Like those are all really good attributes to have in a church really good attributes to have a church that really cares about people Genuine real not fake not not Hypocritical but like seriously doing service and work and ministry work because they love people and care about them that is a great church to be a part of with people in it, but verse 20 in Revelation 2 in turn if you would to 1st Timothy chapter 2 Revelation chapter 2 20 says notwithstanding. I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest That woman Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess to teach and To seduce my servants to commit fornication Excuse me and to eat things sacrificed unto idols so There's three things mentioned in that verse that she's doing And the fornication is what gets the most attention in the passage But there are three things listed that she's doing she's committing fornication and Seducing the servants to commit fornication. She's eating things sacrificed unto idols, which was also brought up this morning In that service, but I thought it's funny because when I was preaching this morning, I was thinking like How did I not get my notes on eating things offered unto idols because they're in my notes for tonight So is this there's this problem that was going on but with Balaam as well as with Jezebel here I'm eating things offered on idols. We're gonna go through that a little bit tonight And I was like, I know I know I prepared for this but where is it? And Then so there's those two things and then to teach so that she's a woman teaching in the church. We're gonna see that that is completely Biblical non-scriptural I do turn to first Timothy chapter 2 Verse number 8 the Bible reads I will therefore that men Pray everywhere lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting and like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel With shame facedness and sobriety not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array but which becometh women professing godliness with good works, so here we see a little bit of the attributes of a godly woman in first Timothy chapter 2 verse 9 and You're gonna see this consistently throughout scripture now I'm not going to spend too much time going through the various scriptures on gender roles We've done that plenty of times in the past but it is very clear in scripture that men and women have different roles assigned to them by God and Characteristically naturally have been designed differently as well and you're a fool if you can't see that But it's evident it's self-evident for anyone even if you don't believe the Bible that you have been created differently as men and women But one of the things here or the list of things in verse number nine that are mentioned About women is that they're to be dressed modestly now when you're dressed modestly You're not drawing attention to yourself and then the rest of that verse continues to go along with Attributes of not drawing attention to yourself shame-facedness sobriety You're serious now with broided hair gold pearls costly or all of those things the specially broided hair The gold the pearls the cost here all of that is going to draw eyes to you Which means that's immodest because you're getting people to look it doesn't mean they're lusting after you necessarily just means you're getting all of the Attention focus and everybody look at me by all of these different things So since God doesn't want women To be doing that and to have that that you know those attributes of getting everyone look at them It makes sense that they're not going to be the teachers and the leaders in church Because he never tells the men not to wear, you know, the gold the pearls the caustic I mean men don't do that really anyways, but that's not something that is that is told for men not to do that I mean obviously we know God's giving instruction to men and women to help deal with areas. I think that are more common struggles With dealing with just in general based on their nature and God will guide us men and women in in their ways so that we're not getting too wrapped up in things that naturally may draw us in the sin, but At the same time that that concept of not being like because it wouldn't make sense if God wanted Women to be the center of attention for teaching for all these other things in front of the whole church then It would be kind of contradictory To not to not have be the center, you know, I'm saying like not be a center attention, but then you are center of attention so He follows that up and that's why I think it's not a mistake or it's not a mistake But not a coincidence that you see the description of women how they adorn themselves Following up verse number 11 saying let the woman learn in silence with all subjection But I suffer not a woman to teach nor do you serve authority over the man but to be in silence and This is one of those passages You know, it's not popular Today, I don't know how many you know, how many generations it has been popular in I don't know if it's ever been popular. Maybe it has maybe as it doesn't matter It doesn't matter if it's never been popular, but it's what the Bible says This is one of those passages that people want to try to make the Bible say something. It doesn't say but my friends We have to be you know consistent and and Have good integrity when it comes to dealing with the Word of God if it's what it says Then let's just take it for what it is and not judge God as as being you know Wrong or bad or something that we need to say if we think if we have any problems with what the Bible is saying there We need to change ourselves not try to change the Word of God or change the Bible So the Bible says let the woman learn in silence with all subjection well, you know what that follows the rest of teaching on scripture with men and women roles and That that's the way the things ought to be done Which also makes perfect sense Because in Revelation you've got a church That's allowing a woman to teach now Notice in Revelation 2 20 it says that it uses these specific words that it's that thou sufferest that woman Jezebel to teach and In verse 12 of 1st Timothy 2 it says, but I suffer not a woman to teach I mean, it's it's literally almost identical Identical language is suffering meaning allowing we says you're allowing that woman Jezebel and she calls herself a prophetess Which some tells me God doesn't consider her a prophetess because she's calling herself a prophetess saying well, I'm a preacher right And you're allowing her to get up and to teach But the Bible clearly says I suffer not a woman to teach Nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence and then it gives a little bit of an explanation here in verse 13 for Adam was first form then Eve and Adam was not deceived But the woman being deceived was in the transgression So when Adam and Eve were in found in sin by eating of the forbidden fruit Eve was the one who was tricked by the Satan Adam was not deceived now Adam sinned But he was not deceived He knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong But it was after his wife already did you know, you could go into the motivations behind why I'm do He did not gonna do that tonight, but Eve was deceived by Satan He tricked her and got her to question God's Word and think oh, yeah Well, maybe you know, this does look pretty good and everything else and she was tricked by Satan and ended up being deceived It says but Adam was not deceived and this description is saying Why women are not allowed to teach but are commanded to be in silence, so That tells me that women are more susceptible to False teaching which if you're more susceptible to false teaching then you shouldn't be the one teaching and The Bible says in a long similar lines in 1st Corinthians 14 Verse 34 Let your women keep silence in the churches For it is not permitted unto them to speak but they are commanded to be under obedience as also sayeth the law and If they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home For it is a shame for women to speak in the church Now, you know if you only had one verse in the Bible that said something along these lines You may it may be easier for you to try to say Well, that must mean something a little bit different or not quite as strong or whatever, right? But you've got multiple places You've got multiple witnesses in Scripture and they're all describing the same thing and it is what it is And this isn't something to be upset about Just accept the way that God allowed it and you know what if God's saying it's a shame then you know, it's a shame Just like any other things that you consider to be a shame Let's stay away from shameful things and do things God's way God obviously has a reason and here's the thing even if you don't agree with or don't understand the reasons Why God has things the way they are? You're gonna do it would be but it would be really wise for you To accept That you may not know But it's still true because it's coming from God because it's God's Word that's saying this Just as my children don't always understand the reasons why I give them certain rules and tell them certain things and why some things are Shame and some things aren't or whatever. They don't have to understand all the reasons, but it's still true and I know what's best for them. And if they know what's best for them, they'll listen to their parents Right because we are looking out for them and it's the same thing with God and His Word You may not understand or agree with or say well, I don't see why that It couldn't be clearer. Let me just say that there's some things in the Bible that that I feel Don't always seem very clear This is not one of them The idea of having women come up and teach and preach in church, this is extremely clear in Scripture How else do you interpret let your women keep silence in the churches for it is not permitted unto them to speak It's not permitted And you know people who want to try to pick this apart say I guess they can't sing in church then right No, because what's followed up with it says and if they will learn anything the learning time is the preaching time It's when we're going through the Bible and the Bible is being preached and you know, oftentimes you're gonna hear men say amen Right when things are being preached someone say amen. That's good. That's right. They're giving their support. They're giving their agreement. They're expressing Hey, this is right and confirming the words that are being preached by the preacher You know that confirmation is still part of the teaching Because you're given a yep, that's exactly right you have to restate the same exact thing just to say that that's right and Even that helps everyone else listening, especially when there's hard preaching going on I'll tell you this when people start to hear You know you because I know the thought process you get a visitor come in or someone comes in or someone who's never heard this Before and they hear so just like blown away and they're just thinking like like the pastor's nuts Right because he's just saying all this crazy stuff and they're looking around and like when nobody's agreeing and no one's saying. Amen Right. They're just gonna think like Like who is this guy this you know, and that they're like that everyone else is on board with you But when there's the Amen's that's right and everything else going on, especially during the harder sermons People are gonna be like, oh, it's not I mean this is then they might just think like you guys are all a bunch of weirdos Or whatever but at least they're gonna know that they're not like in the majority or something that they're gonna know that this is no This is actually truth and there are people who agree with this that this is what's this is what's right But that's not the place of for women to be doing that either in church because they're commanded Not to speak and to be in silence and on top of that It says if a woman will learn if they'll learn anything let them ask their husbands at home And this is also why I because of this verse particularly when When married women have Questions they want to learn about something I'll defer to the husband and Married women if you're married, you should be asking your husband if you don't understand something about the Bible You should be asking him What the truth is on that matter Because he is your spiritual leader That is whom God appointed to be your spiritual leader in the home as your husband Now if your husband can't answer that He will decide if he wants to go to the pastor or go to someone else To seek counsel to be able to provide the answer for you, but you do not decide to go and seek the counsel from someone else So The way that I handle things here is that if there is a win look There's nothing wrong with wanting to know that and usually when people ask it's you know People ask out of ignorance or they just kind of know and it's why I know the answer to things so they just ask questions, but I always at least get the husband, you know, make sure that the husband's there and And make you know, like what do you want to know? I'm not just gonna sit here and teach one-on-one your wife something When that's your responsibility and the Bible's saying let them ask their husbands at home What says It says let them ask him at home, you know, it's not it's a shame for them to speak in the church So that is what we you know, we practice here because it's what the Bible says now Obviously there's a big problem When you have a woman Calling yourself a prophetess and getting up and teaching it's going against clear scripture Of course in 1st Timothy if you're in chapter 2 still chapter 3 goes through the qualifications of a bishop and Instead of verse 1 this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop. He desireth a good work Right off listing a man But on top of that verse 2 says a bishop then must be blameless the husband of one wife How's that? How is a woman gonna be? The the husband of one why I mean these days you got all kinds of crazy things going on, right? I wouldn't put it past anyone but Obviously this implies you have to be a male you have to in order to be a husband you have to be a man To be a husband of one wife and I don't care what this crazy world says. I'm sticking to that I'm not gonna gonna get caught up in this double speak and double think and all the other nonsense that's going on With people call an evil good and good evil and everything We're gonna stick with what the Bible says and in order for someone to be a bishop and have that office They need to be a man. They need to be husband of one wife and then meet all these other qualifications as well But even if you're not the bishop, you know, women are to learn in silence with all subjection and It's that simple so let's move on from that subject. I mean, I think this is real clear I don't even think I need to go anywhere else in Scripture, but this is one of the things that's being called out You know women can be more susceptible to false doctrine which is one of the reasons why they're not called to teach in the church and That's just one of the reasons given why it's the way it is But even if you don't understand that it's it is what it is And if we're going to be a biblical church a scriptural church and have Jesus Christ is ahead of the church Then we're gonna better listen to to what God has to say on these matters Thyatira had a problem with that and they were too Allowing or permissive to allow her just because she called herself a prophetess to get up and to teach And not only did she teach but she seduced Other people in the church to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols, so Here we have a woman preacher and she's teaching false doctrine surprise surprise, right And it says I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not so God is actually being long-suffering still And this also will demonstrate the the how long suffering God is when we look at some of these different problems that churches have And some of them being real. I mean you have a woman teaching and seducing people in church to commit fornication and to eat things aggravates on idols And God is still giving space to repent like to me like like just if that were to happen I'd be I'd be just Freaking out if I knew like that was going on in a church I attended and there was like some Some woman seducing people to do this, you know, it's like God's gonna rain down On you especially I mean real believers not some fake church somewhere that's that you know, they got some false gospel But I mean a real church like I'd be scared to death. Like what is God gonna do here? But it's still he was he's giving space to repent it says and she repented not behold I will cast her into a bed and Them that commit adultery with her in a great tribulation except they repent of their deeds Now I'm gonna get in the rest layer because I'm getting ahead of myself I want to I want to bring up the eating things sacrifice on idols Actually, it's interesting because I had a question even this morning about this and I wanted to answer this because maybe this isn't covered Enough or well enough turn if you were to 1st Corinthians chapter 8 So obviously it's very well established that we shouldn't be suffering women to teach in a church and she calls herself a province That's wrong. We're gonna look at her doctrine of teaching people to eat things sacrifice on the idols Which also we saw earlier this morning But I didn't go into detail about that with the doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans right and they were they were teaching people to eat things sacrificed on the idols and There's a teaching going on today and actually just had a comment on our YouTube channel about it recently So some stupid mocking comment like oh, oh don't you know, you know saying, you know, no, I don't know I'm talking about But And I don't care about those comments, but it's like There's that I know where it's coming from. It's coming from this false teaching That says that really it's not a sin To eat things sacrificed on idols that it's not a big deal. It's no problem in the New Testament and that's false Okay, now I'm going to explain a little bit just as the scripture does But it's being brought up here we saw it in the last two churches Teaching people to eat things sacrifice on idols as a bad thing as something that Jesus has against them that alone Should bring up the red flags of someone who wants to say well we could eat things sacrificed on the idols Then why would Jesus have a problem with it if you can do it if it's not a problem if it's not sinful Why would he have a problem with it? Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 8. It's also mentioned 1st Corinthians 10, but I'm not going to go into detail in chapter 10 We're just going to look at chapter 8 tonight Verse number one The Bible reads now as touching things offered on the idols we know that we can do it Now as touching things offered unto idols we know that we all have knowledge Knowledge puffeth up a charity edifieth and if any man Think that he knoweth anything he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know But if any man love God the same is known of him As concerning therefore the eating of those things That are offered in sacrifice unto idols We know That an idol is nothing in the world and that there is none other god, but one For though there be many but for though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or on earth as there be gods many And lords many but to us there is but one god the father Of whom are all things and we in him and one lord jesus christ by whom are all things and we by him So he's saying first of all, you know, these this food that's offered on idols. We know that an idol literally is nothing We know that there's only one god So when people have these ideas and these statues and idols and they're thinking like this is god and they're offering up this You know this food and sacrifice up We know it's a bunch of nonsense We know that it's just gold and silver and wood and whatever stone like whatever you may that it's lifeless And meaning and like there's really just nothing to it Okay We know that But it says in verse seven howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge but not everybody knows that some people actually think It's real So we know That it's false, but not everybody knows that which actually matters how we should be behaving with things That actually should impact our behavior And what we do and it also impacts what's sinful not what's not sinful because not everyone has that knowledge because they exist and because people give Credence to this it influences what's right and what's wrong? So howbeit there's not every man that knowledge for some with conscience of the idol Unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled But meat commendeth us not to god for neither if we eat are we the better neither if we eat not Are we the worse so? You can't just stop at this verse and build your doctrine right here and say Well can meet me committed this not to god So it doesn't really matter if we eat or if we don't we is what he's saying that It's not that big of a deal It says in verse nine But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak Because yes at the end of the day we know that the idol is nothing So if we're just eating food, I mean we're just eating food like whatever but Let's keep reading verse 10 for if any man see thee which has knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple Shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols So he's saying well when somebody sees you Eating that meat that they know has been offered on idols that's going to embolden them to then do the same thing And you don't know that person may actually think the idol is something And here's this christian guy That's just he's eating it up. He's got no problems with it being sacrificed and unto their idol And now you're going to impact this person and embolden them to To eat those things which are offered idols verse 11 says and and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish For whom christ died, but when ye sin so so now look at this So when you eat what this is saying is when you eat things offered unto the idols When you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience because they witness you Eating of the idol and they think that oh, this is good. This is okay. This is fine To do this, even though it's offered on idols he says when you sin against them you sin against christ So is it a sin to eat things offered unto idols? Yes, it is Yes, it is Wherefore if meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh while the world standeth lest I make my brother to offend And you know what? Let's go ahead and turn to chapter 10. You're in chapter 8 anyways I just want to point this out in chapter 10. It talks about the lord's supper So Let's start reading in uh, let's look at verse number 19. I don't want to take up too much time with this either but It says what say I then that the idol is anything or that which is offered In sacrifice to idols is anything verse 20 chapter 10 verse 20 But I say that the things which the gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed to devils and not to god And I would not that you should have fellowship with devils you cannot drink the cup of the lord And the cup of devils you cannot be partakers of the lord's table and of the table of devils So you're saying when the gentiles are offering up Their meat offerings and their stuff to these idols. They're actually offering them up to devils And he's saying when you eat what you have offered up it's to the lord when you take of the lord's supper That is what you know, you're taking partaking of christ's body And you can't mix The lord's cup with the cup of devils you can't mix the two together And be partakers of the lord's table and of the table of devils verse 22 says do we provoke the lord of jealousy? Are we stronger than he? All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not so What's happening here is that on the one hand? It's lawful for you. You're free in christ. We know the idol is nothing food is food You know like eating the food doesn't really do anything as far as just consuming food There's not some hex on the food. That's like Poisonous or anything different about the food is the food is the food Someone waves their little hand in the air and does some ritual. It doesn't change the food Right and in that sense Hey, man, we're at liberty to eat because there's food here and i'm going to give god thanks for blessing me with food But because other people consider that a holy thing to these other gods everything else. That's what makes it a sin for you The food itself. It doesn't mean anything I mean you could just as easily eat it and it and you know in your mind and you have the knowledge That that idols nothing and it's just stupid and they're doing some stupid hocus pocus I'm, just going to eat my food because there's no big deal about eating that food And i'm just going to give god thanks for it. Right. I have the liberty to do that But because of everybody else you don't have the liberty to do that because then you're going to you could defile their weak conscience And cause sin upon them which in so doing you're sinning against christ That's that's what how this doctrine plays out That's what's being taught in scripture. It's pretty it's pretty simple. He says You know all things are lawful unto me All things are not expedient all things are lawful for me But all things edify not let no man seek his own but every man another's wealth Verse 25 says whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat asking no question for conscience sake For the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast and you'd be disposed to go Whatsoever is set before you eat asking no question for conscience sake but if any man say unto you this is offered in sacrifice unto idols Eat not for his sake that showed it and for conscience sake for the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof Conscience I say not thine own but of the other for why is my liberty judge of another man's conscience? So basically saying Go ahead and go out to the meat market and you know what buy whatever food you want and eat it And you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to do diligent inquisition and be like is this kosher? Right, you don't have to look for the label and see was it what did you do any sacrifices? Did you do any special rituals? Did you do anything on the idols when you're going to buy your food? So don't worry about it because it's not a big deal. And you know what if someone bit some unbeliever bids you do a feast And they believe some weird false religion or whatever, you know what just go if they just serve you food You don't have to ask a bunch of questions. Hey, did you sacrifice this under an idol? Just eat what's put before you Because the actual eating of the food itself is not a big deal Right and we know like I said, we know that the the that it's that the idol is nothing But when someone brings it up to you and says this is this is all for sacrifice idols At that point it would be sinful for you to say. Oh, okay. Well give it to me. I'm going to eat it Because of that person That's how it plays out You can't just look at one verse or two verses and just be like, oh see look it doesn't mean anything Read all of it read all the areas and it'll give you the full picture of what it is and it then you know, it's In our society, this isn't even that big of a deal because there's really not many people In the united states of america that are offering things on the idols, but in other parts of the world, this is a big thing You know, there's other eastern religions where they are they are literally Having their their offerings and sacrifices up to these idols But here you don't really encounter it very much and I don't know I think Even if there's restaurants that do that type of thing you probably wouldn't know it Which is fine for us Because we don't have to this is exactly what i'm saying You don't have to go and ask a bunch of questions and figure out like did you do this or not? Doesn't matter It's not unless they say Hey, I offered this son to bail Or whatever right like be like, okay. No, thanks, sir. I don't have anything to do with that And you know what that makes sense, too So But this woman jezebel She was teaching For people to to eat things sacrificed on idols and you know what you got I don't want that doctrine creeping in here either because you know what we've seen that twice now Where people must be teaching it's okay to eat things that are just offered and sacrificed on the idols Obviously it's not okay And it's mentioned two different churches That they're allowing that to happen and god's angry about it and they're about to lose their candlestick So we covered that doctrine Let's um continue on here because the the and still the the one that gets the most attention and rightfully So is this foreign this woman who's not only teaching but then is committing this fornication in a church Fornication is a really horrible filthy wicked sin That has no place in church first corinthians chapter five says, you know that that if someone's called a brother Is a fornicator that they're to be cast out of the church. I mean they're you're out. It's a serious sin And one of the things I found in multiple things I found interesting here is that God said he's gonna jesus says, you know Them that commit adultery with her in a great tribulation. They're gonna get they're gonna start going through a lot of hard times And unless they repent and then not only that verse 23 in revelation 2 says and I will kill her children with death Like this is serious either i'm gonna go and kill her children Like they're just gonna die And it says and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts And I will give unto every one of you according to your works I mean that fornication don't play around with that He's like her kids are gonna die if she doesn't stop this i've given her space to repent if she doesn't stop this Her children will die And then he says in verse 24 but unto you I say and unto the rest in thyatira As many as have not this doctrine and which have not known the depths of satan as they speak I will put upon you none other burden And Not knowing, you know, he's saying, you know, i'm gonna i'm gonna kill her children They're gonna suffer great tribulation to people who are actually doing this In the church and i'm gonna try them according to works but the rest of you He's basically saying i'm not gonna burden you with anything else But I know when he says the rest of you you don't have this doctrine and have not known the depths of satan And The imagery that that conjures up, you know, the depths of say how how bad of Into sin and backsliding can you get to where you're just like at the depths? of satan that that's That's what fornication is I mean that's knowing the depths of satan. Well, let's look we're going to look at some of the proverbs that talk about fornication And Why it's being referred to here and why i'm saying it's the fornication part that's being referred to as the depths of satan Like that is really low and really bad and I hope you know Everybody listens but especially, you know younger people who may find themselves More likely to be in a situation to commit fornication Get some knowledge and some understanding tonight and some wisdom Take this strong language seriously It's not a joke It's not something that's just oh parent just trying to scare me The reason why I try and be scared about this is because it really is bad. I mean because it's true Okay Some people complain like oh you're giving the gospel people. Well, you're scaring them with hell Well, you know what hell is a scary place and it exists and it's real and people are going to go there If they don't believe on jesus christ, okay, so it's not just this fear tactic just to make people do something I want them to do It's telling people the truth When we're talking about fornication It's the same thing Okay fornication Destroys lives and oftentimes just leads to death Okay, and it's good and if you don't want to know the depths of satan and how bad things can really get then don't mess with fornication It's a serious sin turn if you would to the book of proverbs, we're going to start off in proverbs chapter two This wording in this imagery is used over and over again about fornication Proverbs Two verse number 16 the bible reads To deliver thee from the strange woman Even from the stranger which flattereth with her words now Why is she strange because they're not married because it's someone that you don't know. It's just some other woman Which forsaketh the guide of her youth and forgett the covenant of her god verse 18 look at this for her house inclineth unto death And her paths unto the dead None that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the paths of life It's a serious warning about going in unto the strange woman The woman that you don't know and going committing fornicating fornication with because her house leads to death And her paths unto the dead when I talk about getting to the depths of satan. How about a house that inclines unto death? Proverbs chapter five look at verse number three proverbs five verse number three For the lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil sounds great, right? But her end is bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword her feet go down to death Her steps take hold on hell This is the end of the strange woman now look Yes in every instance we're going to be looking at the strange woman But don't think that this the fornication is only The man committing fornication with the woman as being like the man receiving bad from this It apply this both ways. Okay, because this will apply both ways Chapter seven proverbs chapter seven Verse number 21 the bible reads with her much fair speech. She caused him to yield With the flattering of her lips. She forced him He goeth after her straight way as an ox goeth to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks Till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasted to the snare and knoweth not that it is for his life Harken unto me now therefore. Oh ye children and attend to the words of my mouth Let not thine heart decline To her ways decline you're going down to her ways right the depths of satan let not thine heart decline to her ways Go not astray in her paths for she hath cast down many wounded Ye many strong men have been slain by her look at verse 27 her house is the way to hell Going down to the chambers of death. So in proverbs 2 18 We have her house inclineth unto death and her paths unto the dead proverbs 5 5 says her feet go down to death Her steps take hold on hell proverbs 7 27 says her house is the way to hell going down to the chambers of death This is the references to fornication that the bible is trying to warn you about And tell you about look don't get into the depths of satan and knowing how deep that path goes Because it leads to death and hell and destruction Is Stay away flee fornication the bible says flee fornication stay far away from it There are a lot of sins that can be committed and and you know, we have a tendency to think That you know certain sins or whatever not bad. I don't care how much fornication is going on around you It is it is not It is not a light thing. It is not a small thing. It is a big Big deal. I mean god's ready to kill this woman's children You're gonna kill her children You want to hurt someone real bad, you know, sometimes there are things worse than just losing your own life For a mother to lose her children's life I bet every mother in here would say I would rather die Than have my children killed And me survive If there was a choice in that matter That's where fornication leads That type of judgment you don't want that You have a choice Jezebel had a choice she has a choice I mean it's dead now who knows where she is But she had a choice and god gave and god gave her opportunity to To repent to stop Not to do that And he warned everyone else in the church He said you know what you guys got a lot going on in there and i'm not gonna lay any other burden on you You haven't known the depths of satan like these people have but All the people not just Jezebel too because it was those also that were Committing adultery with her were also going to be judged. You know, i'm gonna judge all of them according to their works Kind of crazy to think that that could even be going on in a church that had all those good attributes, but it was It was I've come to find out some unfortunately things after the fact of stuff that was going on in in church in arizona That I pastored before coming here Had no idea what's going on You know, it's a great church a lot of people that love god and were you know interested in going out soul winning and and You know very similar to this church. It wasn't as big but Yeah, it turned out. You know, I uncovered Came to light Real serious sins going on Didn't know it. I would have liked to get a letter like this Not that you want not that you ever want to get Bad news, but you know what i'd much if there's something I can deal with and do something about then I definitely want to get it I want to know about it right now. This was out in the open. I mean jezebel's This this prophetess who knows how much was known about the fornication stuff from the elder. I don't know but She never should have been You know behind the pulpit to begin with teaching the church Because that's clear from scripture that never should have been allowed to happen And then he says in revelation 225, but that which you have already Hold fast till I come don't let those good attributes that you have slip away Hold on to those things The good attributes that we have as a church. We want to hold on to those things. We'll hold fast Hold tight to those things and let's add more good things And get rid of the bad things Let's bow our heads have a word of prayer. Dear heavenly father Lord, we thank you so much for all these instructions that are given to these various churches lord. I pray to please help us to to improve within our own church and that you would help us to keep good doctrine and teach us good doctrine dear lord that um We could not be failures and that we We we could continue just to do Good works for you and that if you judged us according to our works that we would you'd not have anything negative to say about us, but just to encourage us to keep going lord help us to Do more works for you and just to grow as a church lord. We love you. In jesus name. We pray. Amen you