Thursday, November
27, 2014, 7:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Give Me Jesus.” Speak, Lord, your words
to my heart. I read Revelation 2:18-29
(ESV).
“And
to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who
has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
“‘I
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 you, that you
tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and
seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed
to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual
immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit
adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of
her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all 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. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, 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. Only hold fast what you have
until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him
I will give authority over the nations, 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 give him the morning star. He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The Church
When we think of a church today we often get an image of a
building of some size or shape in which people meet together to study the Bible,
to hear sermons, to listen to music and/or to participate in singing worship
songs; to pray, and to enjoy the fellowship of one another. These meetings
generally take place on a Sunday morning, though some church congregations may
meet on Saturday and/or during the week. Usually the church falls underneath a
particular denomination or it might be considered independent or non-denominational.
In most of these buildings, called church, we are probably taught that this is “the
house of God” and that the “sanctuary” is the holy place in which we enter into
God’s holy presence. We may also think of “church” as a place we go, like a
building. People will often ask, “Which church do you go to?” or “Are you
Baptist or Methodist?” etc.
Yet, Biblically speaking, the church is not a building, or a
human-based organization, or a denomination, or a not-for-profit corporation
under the federal government. The church is a spiritual entity and is made up
only of those who are true believers in Jesus Christ. WE are the house of God. God’s
presence dwells within us, so we are his sanctuary. The holy place dwells
within us both individually and corporately. So, if two or more of us gather
together in His name, He is in the midst (center, middle or central part) of us,
and together we are the church, his Body. Yet, to gather in his name, so that
he truly is the central part of our meetings, means so much more than just
verbalizing his name, for his name is his divine character, which includes his
divine will and purpose. So, if we want to have God/Jesus Christ with us
(central to, involved and participating) in our meetings, we need to gather
according to his will and purpose and not according to our own will and
purpose.
So, the church in Thyatira probably comprised all believers
in Jesus Christ throughout the city, which met in people’s houses and other
public places wherever they were allowed to gather together for the teaching of
the word, for fellowship, for the breaking of bread and for prayer. And, their
meetings probably didn’t look much like some of ours today.
Love and Faith
The church corporately appears to have been comprised of a
group of believers which was acting in love one towards another, and probably towards
outsiders, too, though certainly this did not include every individual participating
in the church’s meetings, which is evident by what was against them. As a
whole, they were commended for their love, faith (or faithfulness), their
service, and their patient endurance, and that these qualities were increasing
in measure. Yet, it seems so contradictory that they would have the charge
against them that they tolerated false teaching, idolatry, sexual immorality
and the like, or that at least they tolerated those who were involved in such
hypocrisy.
So, how can we reconcile this? Can we come up with a modern-day
example or two that might help us to understand what was going on here? – Or,
how this might apply today?
Example Number One
In America we have many followers of Christ, I am sure, who
are sincere in faith, and who practice love and service, and who also have
learned to endure patiently. They exist within these human-based organizations
and corporations (underneath the federal government of the USA), although the
organizations and corporations themselves are not the church. Many of these
so-called churches, instead, are businesses of human-origin, most of which
follow after humanistic teaching, philosophies and marketing schemes, which
then teach the leadership of these “churches” how to grow their “churches.”
In this example, I believe, the US government serves as a
Jezebel to the church. The church, which is a spiritual entity, with Christ Jesus
as its head, decided to bring itself underneath the authority of the US
government under the 501c3 not-for-profit corporation status. This brings
another head into the church, for the church is now in partnership (yoked) with
the government. It is a business arrangement. Now they not only have to answer
to the Lord Jesus, but they have to answer to the government, and the
government can stipulate what is allowed and what is not allowed in the
meetings of the church. Yet, the government of our country is not the body of
Christ, and it is not Christ, so it does not have the mind of Christ. It is
worldly and it is ungodly, and the church is in bed with “her.”
Going back a lot more in time, if anyone one of us would
care to take the time, at least at present, there is plenty of information on
the internet concerning the true roots of the US government. We can see a lot
of this in the layout of D.C., and in its buildings, statues, and the symbols
in our government and on our currency. So much of this is based off of Roman,
Greek and/or Egyptian gods, goddesses and their temples – examples: The
Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as the statue which sits on
top of our capital building, and our Statue of Liberty, etc. If we do the
research, we will learn that our nation was syncretistic from just about the
very beginning, with a strong Satanic influence, as well.
The Lord Jesus has been opening my eyes these past ten years
to what our government is really all about, and what all they are involved in
globally. Although I don’t have the time to get into specifics here, I believe the
government of these United States is part of “the beast” (of Revelation), that
it is directly involved in presently taking down the nations of the world, one
at a time, and that it is working with this beast one-world government to
conquer all nations of this world in order to bring us all underneath the rule
of the beast.
I believe our government regularly makes use of false-flag
operations, that they control the media, and that they use the media to
convince Americans that we are the “good guys” helping out the innocent victims
of the “bad guys.” Yet, first we knock the squirrels out of the tree, and then
we “rescue them.” Check it out.
And, yet, the church has partnered with the government, has
invited the government to be in a position of authority over the church, and
the church helps sell the government’s lies and the deceptions, and she even
encourages government worship via patriotic songs and via the pledge of
allegiance to the flag with hand over heart. If there is such a thing as
separation of church and state, then why is the church in partnership with the
government, and why does she fly the US flag and encourage her congregants to vow
such allegiance (loyalty, commitment, faithfulness, fidelity, devotion, steadfastness
and dedication) to an ungodly, unholy and evil government? We are to obey the
government, but we are not to give our hearts in such devotion and faithfulness
as this to anyone other than God.
Example Number Two
Since so many of these “churches” are human-based
organizations (human businesses), run just like businesses, and marketed just
like Big Businesses, they are also, I believe, the Jezebel of the true church.
And, the true church puts up with it easily enough (See: 2 Co. 11:1-4).
These humanistic teachings and humanistic philosophies on
how to do church and on how to grow our churches do not come from God, but from
man. The gospel is thus diluted and twisted in order to make it fit with today’s
culture, and to make it culturally relevant, non-threatening, non-judgmental,
comfortable, palatable and pleasing to the listeners. Entertainment has often
replaced true worship of God. Movies and books written by mere humans have
replaced the Word of God, or have been used to alter or twist scripture. Appealing
to the flesh of humans has replaced the honor, awe, respect and reverence for
God and a desire to obey him and to do what pleases him.
Because these human-based organizations are focused so much
on attracting the world and appealing to human flesh, and thus have compromised
the truths of scripture and have diluted the gospel, they have brought the ways
of the world into the church so that there is not much difference between the
world and the church anymore, and so the servants of the Lord are being seduced
by false teaching to believe sin does not matter, and that we can be worldly in
order to identify with the world, immersing ourselves in the culture more so or
in place of immersing ourselves in Christ, in his word, and in true worship of
God in spirit and in truth. And, so many Christians do not even blink an eye,
or they just put up with it, although many of them know this is wrong.
So, God is calling to the church to repent of her acceptance
and tolerance of her “Jezebels” who are leading God’s people astray to self-indulgent
devotion to pleasure and happiness as a way of life. So, what should our
response be to all this? What is the solution to this problem? The remedy for
lives given over to selfish and pleasure-driven desire at the cost of all other
relationships is to desire Jesus Christ, his love and mercy, his forgiveness,
his restoration and renewal, and a walk of faith in him that is undivided in
loyalty and commitment, which puts Jesus first, and which honors and obeys him
and his word.
Give Me Jesus
Oh, What Gladness!
An Original Work / December 2, 2013
Give me Jesus. He’s my
Savior.
I’ll walk with Him in
His favor.
I’ll abide in His love
always;
Follow His ways to the
end.
Jesus is the Son of
God.
He died upon a cruel
cross.
He’s forgiven all my
failures
By His mercy and His
love.
Give me Jesus – His
compassion,
And His mercy; loving
kindness.
Let Him teach me how
to love Him,
And to please Him.
He’s my friend.
Jesus died for all our
sin
So we could have
eternal life.
He will free you from
your bondage
If you trust Him with
your life.
Give me Jesus. Let me
trust Him.
May I listen to His
teachings.
May I follow where He
leads me
In His service. He’s
my Lord.
Jesus Christ will come
again
To take His bride to
be with Him.
Oh, what gladness;
free from sadness
When I meet Him in the
air.
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