Skip to content The Compelling Call of Jesus to Conquer Darkness | Revelation Part 8 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Apr 10 · 48 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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The Call to Conquer Darkness 0:00 What a joy it is and a privilege it is for us to worship together and for us to bring God's word into your homes. Again, this morning, we're gonna study from the book of Revelation. We've been in0:12 this series on and off. During the on-site services, we've been focusing on other topics, but we are continuing our expository sermon series on the book of Revelation. Right now, we're studying0:23 chapter 2 and verses 18 to verse 29. And the topic for today is the compelling call of Jesus to conquer darkness.0:36 This is the letter that Jesus wrote to the church in Thyatira. And we're gonna read and we're gonna understand the message that Jesus is bringing a prophetic word to the church even today.0:48 Praise God. Shall we read the text together? Revelation chapter 2 and verses 18 all the way to verse 29. The word of the Lord says, and to the angel of the church in1:00 Thyatira, write. The words of the son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I1:12 know your works, your love, and faith, and service, and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you1:24 that you tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality1:36 and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.1:48 Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her, I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works. And I will strike her2:00 children dead, and all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I'll give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira2:11 who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only2:23 hold fast what you have until I come. The 1 who conquers and the 1 who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,2:35 and he will rule them with a rod of iron as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my father. And I will give2:47 him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Blessed be the name of the lord Jesus Christ. Now today we are studying2:59 the letter that Jesus wrote to the church in Thyatira. Now Thyatira is a very small city and yet it received the longest3:10 letter from Jesus. Now this particular text, if you read with me from verse 18 to verse 29, it can be divided into 2 portions. The reason why3:22 we divide that into 2 portions is because there are 2 key imperatives that kind of divide this text. But I want you to pay attention to these 2 key imperatives because these are the message. This is the3:34 prophetic word that the Lord is bringing to us from this letter. Now verse 20 says this, but I have this against you that you3:46 tolerate that woman Jezebel. See Jesus was saying that there is a tolerance for darkness. Tolerance for sin3:57 among his church. And that was 1 thing that he was saying, I have this against you. Even though in verse 19, he speaks about the works, the love, the patient endurance, their4:09 service. But yet he calls them out and he says, I have this against you. Then in verse 25, he goes on to say, only hold fast what you have until4:21 I come. So as I read this text, I'm gonna divide this into 2 portions from verse 18 to verse 23 and from verse 24 all the way to verse 29. And based on these4:33 2 imperatives, we're gonna learn how do we overcome, how do we conquer, how do we be victorious over darkness? That's the4:45 question we're gonna ask. See, I want you to pay attention to this. A primary school science teacher wanted to teach the dangers of alcohol to her children.4:57 So she brought a beaker full of alcohol. And she told the class, young boys and girls listen, this beaker is filled with alcohol. Now I want you to understand the5:09 danger of alcohol because, look, I have a live worm here. And she takes a live worm and she puts it into the beaker of alcohol. As soon as the5:20 worm hits the alcohol, it shrivels up and it dies. So she looked at the young children and she see the danger of alcohol. Then5:32 she paused and she asked this class, what did they learn from this science experiment? Now 1 boy, toddler, put up his hand and he said, this is what I5:44 learned. That if I have worms in my stomach, I should drink alcohol. See, I want you to think about this. For the teacher, the danger was in5:56 the alcohol. But for the student, the danger was actually in the worm. See, you can sometimes look at things and be impressed externally. Your observations6:08 are right but your conclusions may be absolutely wrong. That is why when Jesus looks at the church in Tiatira, he looks at them and he is impressed by their6:20 works, their service, their patient endurance, and everything on the external commitment that they have before God. Even to the point of some of them being so consecrated into6:31 God. Yet, there is something that he holds against them. And that is what we're gonna study because they were tolerating darkness, and some of them were not6:43 holding on to the truth. So how do we overcome? How do we conquer? How do we be victorious over darkness? That's the question we're going6:55 to explore. And I'm going to give you 2 key imperatives from this passage. Therefore, I'm going to give you 2 principles for you to pay attention to. 1, beware of compromise in the midst of7:07 commitment. He says in verse 20, I have this against you that you tolerate. In other words, they were committed people but in the midst of it, they had compromise. So7:18 beware of compromise in the midst of commitment. Secondly, be mindful of complacency in the midst of consecration. They were7:30 consecrated people. And yet in their midst, there was a lot of complacency. So Jesus was addressing these 2 things. Only hold fast until I7:41 come, he says in verse 25. Now let's take it 1 by 1 and unpack it. So Revelation chapter 2 and verse 18, I want you to read this. And we're gonna study beware7:53 of compromise in the midst of commitment. To the angel of the church in Thyatira write this, the words of the son of God who has eyes like a flame of8:05 fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I love this text because you and I, we have established over the last few sermons on Revelation that8:17 every time Jesus gives a description, he describes himself, he's referring to the vision that he showed John in chapter 1 of himself. What he is8:28 like. And so here, he's addressing something specific that needs to be said to the church in Thyatira. And he says this, my eyes are like a8:40 flame of fire. What does this mean? And bronze always speaks of judgment. Flames of fire speaks of his consuming fire, which8:52 means his his judgment. So in other words, Jesus is looking at the church, And his eyes can see everything. He misses nothing. So his judgment,9:04 in some ways you can say this, his judgment is perceptive. He perceives everything. And his judgment is powerful. Why? Because it is final and it is9:15 fair. Listen to me carefully. Jesus is looking at Thyatira even though this is a pagan city. It's a small city, it's a Roman colony. He's not9:27 looking at the political corruption in the city, and he's not addressing the political corruption in the city, but rather he's addressing the spiritual darkness in the church. See many times9:39 we get caught up with what's going on in the world that we think that God is there to deal with things that's happening in the world. Judgement is for the world. Listen. It begins in the house of God.9:51 And 1 thing that God wants to decisively deal with is corruption within. And he doesn't want us to live in that place of deception that we can continue doing what we do10:03 and yet have no consequence. See, a a girl went from Asia to Europe for a holiday. And she this is the first time she has left her home, and and she's10:15 by herself, and she was caught up with all the fantastic things that's happening in Europe. She went to nightclub after nightclub and and ate in good places and and stayed in10:27 fancy hotels. And on the last day before she was flying back, she met this very gorgeous hunk in 1 of the bars.10:39 And of course, he wooved her to the point that they both went to a hotel room and and she slept with him. The next day morning as she was leaving for the airport, this man slipped a paper10:51 in her hand and said, read this when you're in the in the airplane. So she kept it in her purse and she opened it when she was inside the aircraft and she read it. And she says, welcome to the11:03 AIDS world, baby. Right there, the woman froze. And for the next 14 hours in her flight to Asia, she was petrified in her life.11:14 I want you to listen to me carefully. This is what happens. We play with fire not realizing there's a judgment that's coming. See, you cannot pray away something you did with11:26 willful disobedience. A woman who has slept with a man with with no protection and taking that chances cannot just say, oh lord, I pray that I will not fall pregnant or I will11:38 not catch the disease he has. Listen. Why? Because you cannot pray away something you did out of willful disobedience. You and I, we need to recognize this. So Jesus11:50 is addressing this that the judgment he's standing at the judgment seat and he's already with his eyes. He's perceiving everything that goes on. In verse 19, the Bible says, I know12:02 your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance that your latter works exceed the first. I want you to pay attention to this. I know your works,12:14 Jesus says. See, this is not a very bad church. In fact, if you look at it externally, it's a great church. It's probably a happening church. It is the church that's continuing to grow, and it's12:25 very very prominent in the eyes of people. Why? Because they have good works. They had faith. They had service. They had patient endurance.12:38 See, the bible says the church in Ephesus had good works, but they lacked 1 thing. They lacked love. They did everything out of a a duty rather than a delight. They didn't have the12:50 compassionate heart, but this church had everything. They had good works. They had love. They had faith. They had service. They had patient endurance. And Jesus says, on the superficial13:02 level, you are perfect actually. Because you have everything going for you. And he actually also says, your works, your latter works exceed your13:13 first. I wanna summarize this into 2 things. 1, Jesus was commending them for their great spiritual devotion as well as their great spiritual13:25 progression. See, their commitment to Jesus was earnest. It was enduring, and it was even expanding. In other words, they continued to give13:37 to Jesus more and more of themselves. They served him. They loved him. But in the midst of it, Jesus actually says, let's read it together.13:49 But I have this against you that you tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and14:01 to eat food sacrificed to idols. I want you to listen to me carefully. They have everything else going well for them, but there's 1 thing. And that 1 thing is,14:13 they failed to take a stand. They failed to take a stand against error because they were caught up in the age of tolerance.14:25 Do you know what is the buzzword today in the world? The buzzword today in the world is tolerance. We are living in the age of tolerance. And as a church, as we live in the continue14:37 to dwell in this age of tolerance, we need to build and to stand fast against error. The bible says they were good in everything. They loved the lord. They served the lord. They had patient14:48 endurance. They even had faith and good works. Everything they had. But the 1 thing they didn't have is they did not stand against darkness. They did not take a stand against15:00 error. They tolerated darkness. Now this is where you and I, we need to pay attention to this. Tolerance is a buzzword right now in15:11 society. Do you know in the past, what was not tolerated by society is today tolerated. What was once considered15:23 intolerance is today moved into the category of tolerance. What was once considered, these are things that you don't speak about. Let me let me, for for those who15:35 are trying to understand what I'm trying to say, let me give you an example. In the age past, maybe a generation ago, there were a lot of rules again on sexuality, on having15:47 sex. There were a lot of things that govern these things. How a girl and a boy meet, where would they go, what would they do, under whose supervision. There was a lot of these things. In other words, there were a lot of15:58 rules and regulations around sex. But there was no rules and regulations around food. You can eat whatever you want. They were blase about16:10 food. But now, in society, sex is very common. You fall in love today. You have a 1 night stand. You can sleep around. You can have an affair. In16:21 fact, there are websites that will say, you know, life is short. Have an affair. In fact, these are things that are commonly talked about. There is all the rules around sex and sexuality is now gone, but we have16:33 a lot of rules around food now. Isn't it? You know, you can't you can't go to a restaurant without somebody asking you what kind of or somebody saying, oh, are you tolerant,16:45 lactose intolerant? What tolerance? You know, are you gluten free? This is this. Or is this non GMO? Has the chicken been read poetry? And all the all the, you16:57 know, the the beef has been taken care of for that many days to eat nice grass? All these things you have to now count because there's so many17:09 rules around food. Listen. In other words, the society has moved to what was once tolerable to now intolerable. People will look down on you if you17:21 feed your children a certain food. But if you for the same mother's group, if you tell your the the mother's group that you're having an affair or you're leaving your husband because you've fallen in love with somebody17:31 else, no longer there's no shame attached to it anymore. They'll be like, oh, wow. Tell me more. That's exciting. It's a new start. That's great. Listen carefully.17:43 The world keeps switching what they are tolerant about. But as people of God, we need to know that our standards come from the word of God and the word of God doesn't compromise. It invites you. Jesus is calling you17:55 to take a stand once and for all against error, against sin and stand. That's what the church needs to be clear about. So in the midst of all18:07 the good works and the love that they had, 1 thing they missed, they missed having taking a stand. Now when I look at this in the text that we read in verse 20,18:19 I see at least 4 problems that we need to guard against. Let me give you the 4 problems, and then we'll unpack. Look at this. The bible says, there was a woman by the18:31 name of Jezebel. Now even though I do believe that this is just, it is it is, it's not her it is not her name. It is just the name, that the18:42 bible gives to her. In other words, she's likened to the Jezebel in the old testament. So there is a woman in this church, maybe she's a leader, maybe she's someone who is given a18:54 platform to preach or to teach. But the bible says her name is likened to Jezebel. And the bible says, this lady who calls herself a prophetess,19:07 who calls herself, meaning she's self appointed. Nobody else has recognized her or laid hands on her or appointed her. She is self appointed. In other words, there's no accountability over her life. She just does19:19 whatever she pleases. And the bible says she's teaching. That means there are people who are gullible enough, who are undiscerning, who are blindly following and they are listening to this woman and19:31 the bible says, and she's seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality. In other words, she's not only teaching but she's seducing. She's leading them towards sin.19:42 2 kinds of sins, the bible says, sexual immorality and idolatry, food sacrifice to idols. So right there, have 4 problems I want to address.19:54 When you and I need to take a stand against error, against sin, the bible says we need to guard against these things. Number 1, we need to guard against personality problem. Do you know how many pastors that20:06 I counsel over the years that had to deal with corrupt men or corrupt women, carnal men, carnal women in their church who have who have20:18 who have this charismatic persona or a charismatic personality or a personality that is very strong and dominant and and like a like they they just come and catch20:30 people and steal people away. Listen. Personality problem has always plagued the church. So you and I, we need to always guard against the personality problem. Personality, for me, it's not about just20:42 a person with a charisma. Does that person have accountability? Many times they they don't have accountability. No 1 can step into their life and say, brother, what you're doing is error. Sit20:54 down. What you're doing is error. What you're teaching is error. Who can step in to say that? That's the personality problem. The second 1 is, there's an authority problem.21:06 See, there is a self appointed. That's why you and I, we need to pay attention to this. Don't be caught up with the gift of a person. Don't be caught up in what that person says and be so21:17 mesmerized because there are many who are in the kingdom who are never called, who are not appointed by God, but they are self appointed. How do you21:29 know? In the long run you will know. Because they will start churches that don't last. They go into ministries that fail. Listen to me carefully because there is no hand of God over that person.21:41 But listen, this is the authority problem, a self appointed person. Thirdly, there is a theology problem. What's a theology problem? Here, she's teaching something. You know in this day and age with YouTube21:53 and Facebook and and podcasts, any Tom, Dick, and Harry or any Tina, Donna, and Hannah can now start a podcast and start teaching. So you gotta22:04 listen to the teaching that comes based on the word of God. You and I need to know the truth and you should be able to discern the truth. There are numerous fault teachers out22:16 there but you need to know how to train yourself to evaluate, to discern, rightly divide the word. And that's why the bible says we have a theology problem. And her theology was this. Jezebel here22:28 was teaching that they can practice sexual immorality and they can eat food offered to idols. Now we have already dealt with this in the past, but let me say it again.22:40 Just in the old testament there was a Jezebel. And that Jezebel led 850 prophets of Baal. She had them on payroll. And she corrupted the minds of the22:52 Israelites, and she made them worship Baal. She was the powerful wife of a powerful dummy king called Ahab. She was the authority behind that king.23:05 And the bible says, she even frightened men of God. If you read first Kings chapter 17 to 19, you will find even Elijah the prophet. The man who stood before the Lord23:16 every single day was afraid of this woman. Why? Because she had an evil spirit about her. Listen. This intimidation,23:29 that's what the bible likens this woman to. So there is a theology problem, and this woman was teaching. What was she teaching? She was teaching, if you are a Christian in Thyatira, and say if you're a business man,23:41 and you have to be part of a business association like the guilds in those days. The guilds are the trade unions or the association. Say for example, if you're an entrepreneur, maybe you're an23:53 online retailer, And you go to an online retailer's association meeting. And if you're in Thyatira, they will have an association meeting and you're all having food together. But before24:05 you're gathered and the chief guest comes in and says, Grace, this is what he would say. We want to thank our patron god. See, every guild had a patron24:17 god. So maybe in this patron god was Zeus. So they would say, we want to thank Zeus for giving us a wonderful year, a good financial year of profitability. So24:28 tonight, we're going to offer incense to him. Not only that, we are going to have food that is now partake, that has been served to the idol, that has been served to Zeus as part of the worship ritual. We're going to24:40 eat the food that we are going to partake. Now if you are a Christian, you have to take a stand against idol worship and to recognize that this is not what24:52 God allows for me to do. But you know what Jezebel was saying to them? It's okay. You have to make a living. It's okay. You're just eating food that's just just25:04 physical food. It's not spiritual. And then after the guild feast are over, maybe they get themselves involved in sexual immorality. In other words, they have sexual25:15 there's orgies and other things that goes on in that feast. And he and she says, you can participate in this. You know why? Because it's only physical body. Your spirit is still safe. You're okay.25:27 Now the bible says, she corrupted them. She even seduced them. Now this is the word of the lord for us. The fourth problem in the church is the problem of25:39 morality. Can I humbly say this church? Just like in the olden days, they had they had they had sexual immorality. Today, it has gone even25:50 worse, isn't it? See the scandals that have come in the recent times that have plagued the church during this COVID season. We are all stunned by it. Great men of God,26:02 charismatic men of God, leaders of movements, very notable figures in Christendom. We can see the deception that they had lived a life, a duplicity of26:14 life. There was a darkness that they had been involved in that was not exposed. Some of them it was exposed only after they died. Some of them were exposed while they are in the peak of their ministry.26:25 Listen to me carefully. How can we overcome darkness? You and I, we need to stand against the authority problem, the personality problem, the theology26:37 problem, but more importantly, the last days, we need to take a stand against morality problem. You and I are very clear. You you and I, we need to know that this is the season for us26:49 to take a stand. That's what Jesus is inviting his church to. Look at that in verse 21. Verse 21, Jesus says, I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her27:01 sexual immorality. I want you to listen to me. Jesus is looking with eyes, perceptive eyes. He sees the works but he sees the depth of the heart. He sees beyond the27:13 works. He sees beyond the external the external piety. But then he sees the poverty, the corruption in the heart. And he goes on to say, I27:25 want you I want to give you time to repent. But the bible says she refuses to repent. Wow. As a pastor, I'm burdened27:37 with 1 thing. You know what compromises our discipleship and what compromises the discipleship in our church is that we have now tolerated27:49 sin and sinful people in the church for too long. Let me say that again. There are so many things that we say to ourselves. These are tolerable sins.28:01 Everybody is doing it. It's okay. That man displays anger. Oh, it's okay. Just an anger. Or that person speaks vulgarity. Or it's just he has a big mouth or bad mouth.28:14 Or that person always reacts with jealousy or envy. There is always a bitterness when he opens his mouth. Oh, that's the way he is. He's just a pessimist. We just give excuse for28:25 everything. That person is a gossip and she's a gossiper. She goes around sowing seeds that were of discord. But yet, we look at her external piety. Oh, she's a prayer woman. You know, she intercedes for28:37 people. She goes around to every person. She's not gossiping. She's just telling them prayer requests. Listen carefully. What sins are we tolerating within the church? The bible28:49 says we have to have a decisive deal. We need to decisively deal with sin. We need to conquer. We need to overcome. We need to be victorious over darkness. Don't So no29:00 allow allowance of compromise. We need to take a stand and stand against these things. Maybe that's what Jezebel was saying to them. Jezebel was saying, it's okay.29:12 It's alright, that young person. It's alright. You're only dabbling with online sex. It's okay. You're just dabbling with only phone sex. It's not real. It's not29:23 actually with a person. It's just something there on the screen. Young man listen. Husband listen. Wife listen. Oh, it's just29:35 not an affair. It's just we just talk deeply. I don't have my spouse doesn't talk with me that deeply. So we just share deep things with 1 another. That's a you cross the line. It's an emotional affair. Call it29:47 for what it is. Because the moment you fail to recognize and call it what it is, 1 day you wake up and it's already destruction. Listen carefully. 1 of the core things that Jesus says29:59 here is, I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent. You know 1 thing we need to guard against? We need to guard against stubbornness. Stubbornness is the issue. The stubbornness is30:11 the attitude of the will that you don't want to yield to God. You don't want to submit to authority. You don't want to submit yourself to the promptings of the holy spirit or to the word of God. This is important for30:23 us to understand. In the last days of people of God, we need to guard against, guard against stubbornness. That's why in a disciple making church we always speaks about the brokenness of heart.30:36 The opposite of that stubbornness is brokenness. What is brokenness? Brokenness is my will is shattered. My self will is shattered.30:48 My self sufficiency is destroyed. And I have a soft heart before God to say, Lord, have mercy on me. Forgive me. Cleanse me. Help me to come back to31:00 you. The bible says she was stubborn, didn't want to repent. Can I humbly say this because I'm speaking to disciples who want to be a certain kind?31:12 Can I humbly say this? God against these sins because these are becoming more tolerable within the church. 1, adultery. You visit a prostitute, you are an31:23 adulterer. You slept with a woman that is not your wife or not your husband, that's adultery. If you have premarital sex,31:36 even if you have promised that sweet little thing that you're going to marry her, and you know within your heart that you're going to marry her even a month later, and you have sex with her, that's called fornication.31:48 You and I, we need to call it as it is because these are the sins that church kind of closes 1 eye and allows it to happen. Listen carefully. If you're a young person in this church, listen. Sexual purity is32:00 something that you and I are designed for. We gotta come before God and worship with our body. The bible says the body is the temple of the holy spirit. How can you allow this body to be corrupted by evil?32:12 That's why bible says he gives her time to repent, but she refuses stubbornness, brokenness. Pay attention. Finally, the root cause of lot of these things is actually32:24 because we tolerate pornography. If someone says, oh, I struggle with pornography. I struggle with masturbation. Oh, we just say, ah, yeah, everybody struggles with it. Yeah, just move on. Can I humbly32:36 say this? No, not really. Those who really want to live a godly life, they don't struggle with it. They put tools and and accountability into their life, into their systems to overcome it. Jesus said, if your eye32:48 causes you to sin, gouge out the eye. Pull it out. If your eye if your hand causes you to sin, chop it off. In other words, Jesus was saying decisively deal with sin. Don't entertain33:00 sin. Don't allow it to grow. You and I, we need that kind of stand against error in the age of tolerance. That's why33:11 Jesus was saying, beware of sexual immorality. Beware of compromise in the midst of commitment. Wow.33:24 I wanna I wanna take a moment to just say this. Look at this in verse 22 and verse 23. In verse 22 he says, behold, I'll throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her, I will throw33:36 into great tribulation unless they repent of her works. How many times that word repent happens? 3 times in this text. Jesus says, unless they repent of their works, I will strike her children dead33:48 and the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart and I will give to each of you according to your works. He says, I will throw her onto a sick bed. Many times we don't34:00 understand how God deals with his people. He says, I will strike her. I will throw her. I will throw them into great tribulation. I will strike her34:11 children dead, and all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart. In other words, you may say, nobody knows what I'm doing. Can I humbly say, Jesus knows? Why? Because he searches34:23 the heart and mind. He's perceptive. He's powerful. And when he wants to deal with it, it's fair, it's full, and it's final.34:35 Listen to me carefully. I'll give to each 1 according to your works. Why do we tolerate sin? Can I give you 3 things to write down in your notes? Why we tolerate34:47 sin? We tolerate sin because we take sin too lightly. Secondly, we take God's grace for granted. We think that he is gracious and he will continue to remain34:59 gracious. Don't let don't test that. Don't take God's grace for granted. Thirdly, we don't have the fear of the Lord. What's the fear of the Lord? The fear of the Lord is this. The35:11 fear of the Lord is that you need to learn to have brokenness in your life, to know that he will deal with sin thoroughly. Look at this. So what's the antidote for stubbornness? It's the fear of35:23 the Lord. To know that when he deals, he will deal according to your works. So better get right. Now the key question I'm gonna ask you today is this, are you willing35:34 to repent? Are you willing to embrace that brokenness? To say, Lord, let my self will be shattered. Let my self reliance be destroyed. I want to have a softening of heart.35:47 To repent, to come out of my dead works. My friend, Jesus is calling you today. And we are living in the last leg of the last days. Don't carry on in that darkness.35:59 Why? Because whatever you do in the darkness will be brought to light, the bible says, and he will expose you. And when that's happened,36:12 your marriage will be destroyed. Your reputation will be tarnished. You'll be completely gone. Listen. This is the time for you to come back before the Lord. The second thing, and I know I'm already run out of36:23 time, but I'm gonna take another 10 minutes because this is an important message I want you to catch. The second thing, how do we conquer, overcome, and be victorious over darkness?36:35 He says, be mindful of the complacency in the midst of consecration. Look at verse 24. But to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold this teaching. Now, there was a36:46 remnant in the church in Thyatira that did not follow the teaching of Jezebel. They were not seduced by her. They took a stand. And the bible says, to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold this36:58 teaching, who do have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan. I want you to circle that word, deep things of Satan. In fact, this is said in a sarcastic tone. In37:10 other words, they call it these are the deep things of Satan. In other words, these are deep truths. And what Jesus was saying is, they are not the enlightened ones. They are not the ones with the deep truth.37:22 They are actually deep things of Satan. See in the last days, there will be a prevalent teaching that will go on. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, you are fine to live your life37:34 the way you want. Because your sin is totally forgiven. It will never be held against you. So you are totally completely free. You have the license to do whatever you want and37:46 God will always forgive you. Listen to me carefully. That's a lie from the pit of hell because it is true but it's only half true. And most of the most of the the37:57 deceptive truths, most of the most of the lies that that catch people unaware, subtly move them and move them into destruction are these half truths. Because they're not complete.38:11 Jesus will deal with sin. That's what he's saying. So what he's saying here is there are people, I say to you, that do not hold on to these teachings. They are free. And then he goes on to say, I do not lay38:23 on you any other burden. See, Jesus doesn't want them to be burdened by having to obey all the law. Jesus says, come to me and I will give you my yoke. My yoke is38:34 easy and my burden is light. Here he says, I don't want to lay any other burden on you except this 1 thing. What is that 1 thing? Verse 25. He says, only hold fast what you have38:46 until I come. I love it. The only thing he requires of you is hold fast to what you have. In other38:58 words, you have faith in God. You have promises of God. You have truth about God. Hold on to these things. Can I give you 3 things that you need to hold on to? Hold fast to the truth about39:09 God. Where do you find it? In the word of God. Where do you find it? In the word of God. That's why in this house we give prominence to the preaching of the word of God. I want you to listen to me39:21 carefully. In the last days there will be itching years the bible says. People will accumulate for themselves teachers who want to tell them what they want to hear. But in this pulpitShow more In this video 0:00 The Call to Conquer DarknessComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Paul Jeyachandran
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