Revelation 2 vs 20-29

Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 20

 Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess, was a character in the Old

Testament, back in 1 Kings. Jezebel was the most wicked woman in all of

scripture. She was a daughter of a pagan king…the king of the

Sidonians…who also was a priest of Ashtaroth…, (also known as

Semiramis), and she was given to King Ahab in marriage. King Ahab was

the King of Israel and to that point he was the most wicked of kings yet.

 1 Kings 16:31-33, “And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial

thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took

as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal (meaning Baal is with us), king

of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. Then

he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in

Samaria. And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the

Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before

him.”

 Jezebel effectively brought the worship of Baal front and center in Israel.

The Bible records that with Jezebel at his side, King Ahab set up altars for

Baal all throughout the nation. Interestingly we read in 1 Kings 18:19

Elijah calling Ahab out, “Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me

on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the

four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” That’s a

lot of Jewish prophets of Baal and Asherah!

 There’s a particularly relevant account of Ahab and Jezebel in 1 Kings

where you will read about Ahab and Naboth. Ahab was upset (pouting on

his bed), saddened that a man named Naboth would not sell to him his

land. And so, Jezebel there in 1 Kings says, “Hey you’re the king! Just

take it! Tell you what hubby, I’ll get that land for you.”

 And so, what did she do? She couldn’t just go and murder him so she set

up false accusations against Naboth which ended up getting him killed.

She used deceit, lies, trickery, false reality… Ahab and Jezebel did get the

land, but the way they got it was through deceit, a power play and an

inquisition. (Acquiring by the blade of a sword)

 This was and is the infiltration of this church. Allowing and embracing the

Queen (as it were) of idolatry and spiritual immorality or spiritual

fornication. To choose another husband other than God. And that was

present, but also there is another form of this spiritual fornication and that

is the worship of God in unprescribed ways. Taking what God has given

and twisting it for ungodly purposes.

 I mentioned at the start that Thyatira literally means, “Routine or

Continual Sacrifice.” This church had embraced spiritual fornication,

idolatry and worship of the Goddess or Queen of Heaven. What we are

talking about is the fully matured, post-Pergamos worship that persisted

and thrived through the dark ages, the medieval Roman Catholic church,

and even until today. The worship of God in routine, unprescribed ways.

The papacy, indulgences, transubstantiation, purgatory, confirmation,

prayers to and for the dead, none of these practices are substantiated by

scripture.

 These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and

His feet like fine brass…none of these things go unnoticed by the Lord

and every distraction, every unprescribed worship practice, is time,

attention, focus and understanding that is taken from what God has indeed

prescribed. And what is that?

 Certainly not a continual sacrifice. That is what the mass is week to week.

That in the Eucharist, the actual blood of Jesus is present physically and

the actual body of Jesus is present physically and thus He is sacrificed

again for the atonement of sin. A hold-over of Mithraism…, practiced in

ancient Mesopotamia, and joined to Christianity under Constantine! And

perhaps the most tragic element is that worshippers believe that it is the

mass that secures their salvation.

 That however negates Jesus’ proclamation upon the cross of “Paid in

full.” And when some sort of penance is assigned for sin committed, that

again, simply negates how Jesus has prescribed we worship Him. From a

position of being saved and forgiven our sins by grace through faith. How

are we to honor and worship God?

 John Chapter 1:12, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right

to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” We are

simply to receive…to welcome and open our hearts to the indwelling

presence of God Himself and be born again, being forgiven and dead to

our sin, and alive to Christ. Add anything to that and you are in danger of

spiritual fornication, the very verdict pronounced upon the church of

Thyatira.

 In the end, Jehu kills Jezebel. Jehu means “Jehovah is He.” No one else.

Nothing was left of her but her feet, palms and skull which interestingly

point to a false Christ-like character as Christ is the Head of the church,

bought and paid for through the nails driven through His palms and His

feet.

Revelation Chapter 2 Verses 21 - 23

 This is important. People ask “Will the church go through the

tribulation?” My answer, “Not the Body of Christ.” Parts of the church,

…yes. Jesus here says, your idolatry, your religion, any other way to

salvation other than by grace through faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ

ALONE…consider it proof positive that there’s an issue…an indication

of an unregenerate heart…and if you do not repent and be saved, into

the Tribulation you go.

 You’ve devised a way, you’ve invented a method…just like Jezebel and

Ahab, to grow in power and position and fortune and lands and you’ve

mixed in false religion that says something other than what the Bible

says, something other than what Jesus said, concerning salvation. And

it’s not going to work. Notice, what is required to stay out of the sick

bed and also the Great Tribulation…repentance. Repentance and being

born again go hand-in-hand (proof positive of relationship – if repentance

wasn’t required, then we have no responsibility. But the word “repent”

shows up over 125 times in the Bible!!! You know what word also shows

up about that many times in the Bible? Grace. Isn’t that ironic! But no

one questions the need for grace…).

 Ultimately, we will be rewarded according to our works. John 6:28-29,

“Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works

of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that

you believe in Him whom He sent.” That word in the Greek for “believe”

is commit. Repent, and turn your life over to God…that is to believe, and

that comprises the totality of religion prescribed by God Himself. And

that is the single thing you and I will be judged upon in the end.

 This church has many children. Very interesting. Not just folks that

attend. In fact, this church was rather small at the time that this letter was

written…but it’s grown. And in its growth, this church has produced

many parent/child relationship churches. One, just because its interesting,

Constantine moved the capital of Rome from Rome to Byzantium which is

modern day Istanbul and he renamed it to Constantinople.

 This eastern move gave rise to the Byzantine Empire which would

ultimately outlive the Roman Empire. There were those that rejected this

and ultimately rejected Constantine’s spiritual and empirical authority thus

giving rise to the Western or Greek Orthodox Church which is separate

from the Roman Catholic Church. That’s One child.

 Another example is the Episcopal Church which is essentially a Catholic

denomination that rejects the papacy and some (actually very few) of the

doctrinal teachings of the Roman Catholic Church… Still a child though…

 Where’d they come from? The Episcopal Church is also known as the

Anglican Church, or by its official name, the Church of England. It is the

successor, or child, of the Anglo-Saxon and medieval English church

which still today values and has preserved almost all of the traditional

framework of medieval Roman Catholicism specifically in church

government, liturgy, customs and traditions.

 The Anglo-Saxons were the people group who inhabited much of what is

now England and south-eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages,

primarily from the 5 th century until the Norman Conquests in 1066. They

were largely Germanic tribes who migrated to Britain after the withdrawal

of the Roman Empire. The predominant tribes were the Angles and the

Saxons and the Jutes who formed several kingdoms, districts, rulers and

cultures.

 A monk by the name of St. Augustine was chosen by Pope Gregory I to

lead a mission to the Anglo-Saxons. He arrived in what is modern day

England in 597, and within 90 years all of the Saxon kingdoms of England

had converted to Roman Catholicism. Augustine’s archbishopric at

Canterbury became the symbolic seat of England’s church, which

established important ties, and was subservient, to Rome under his

leadership. Ok, all sounds Roman Catholic, right? Then something

happened…

 The break with the Roman papacy and the establishment of an

independent Church of England came during the reign of Henry VIII

(1509–47). When Pope Clement VII refused to approve the annulment of

Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon (Picture) (who failed to produce

a male heir and because he was infatuated with Anne Boleyn (Picture), the

English Parliament, at Henry’s insistence, passed a series of acts that

separated the English church from the Roman hierarchy and in 1534 made

the English monarch the head of the English church. The monasteries were

suppressed, but few other changes were immediately made, since Henry

intended that the English church would remain Catholic, though separated

from Rome.

 Interesting, Pope Clement VII wasn’t being pious. He wouldn’t annul

Henry’s marriage to Catherine because he didn’t want to alienate King

Charles V of Spain, Catherine’s nephew. In the end, the Archbishop of

Canterbury (which is now the top position in the Episcopal Church)

declared Henry’s marriage to Catherine invalid in 1533, allowing him to

marry Anne Boleyn.

Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 24

 It’s very interesting here that Jesus would say “depths of Satan.” Satan is

the biblical name of the fallen one but his original name was Lucifer…, so

Satan is his name but it is also his title… Its root means adversary or one

who seeks his own. Yet Jesus says “depths” here. What’s interesting

about that is that the priests of Ashtaroth, the Queen of Heaven, they

espoused that they alone knew the mysteries, the deep things of heaven

and existence. They had the direct line to the Sun God and the Moon

Goddess and so people, just listen to us…

 We still see that today. Because this church is still on this earth. A

religious system that employs an elite group who can absolve sin, who

alone can speak to God and so they must be sought by the common

people…even today, services around the world are held in a language that

only the religious elite understand (Latin) …isn’t that odd?

 I’m not trying to come down on the Catholics, I’m just reporting the news!

If you think I’m hard on them, come back next week when we look at the

church of Sardis which is the protestant, reformation movement

churches…Jesus had nothing good to say about that church…so just hang

in there, I’ll equally offend everyone by next week.

 Ever seen the two keys (Picture) that are always sewn onto the robe of the

Pope or seen throughout the Vatican? These are known as the “two keys of

Peter.” What are they? Where did they come from? The priests of

Babylon carried around two keys on them. One was the key of a god

named Janus, the other the key of a god named Cybele. And with the

authority of holding these keys, the Babylonian priest could approach the

hidden things, the mysteries, the things that were locked away that

pertained to the heavens. Today the Pope emblazons on his arms these

two keys as the ensigns of his spiritual authority and with that authority he

is believed to be…, infallible.

 But look what Jesus says here…He calls out a remnant. He says I know

there are some that simply seek Me yet they find themselves burdened by

all of these add-ons…you have enough problems! I put no other burden

on you…

Revelation Chapter 2 Verses 25 - 27

 There, “Hold fast till I come.” First time Jesus talks about His return. I

tell you what, that is a word for the church today! Stay the course, in this

craziness of this crazy world, finish strong! And notice, the keys to the

kingdom as it were to overcoming is indeed right now, hold fast to the

truth! Which we will see in more detail with the church of Philadelphia.

 What kind of a potter’s vessel can be dashed to pieces? The hardened

kind. Make sure your ministry, your religion, your relationships do not

become routine or hardened to the point that you are all finished learning.

Stay soft, teachable and focused on the love that you have received from

God! Let love be the mark of true faith. Allow humility to teach you

strength and depth of character. In the end, those who have hardened,

none of them make it…, if you’ve hardened, you will be broken into

pieces, it’s just a matter of time.

Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 28

 What is the Morning Star? Well not what, but who. Jesus said in

Revelation 22 verse 16, “I m the Bright and Morning Star.”

 Don’t buy into this system people. We are lulled into a sleep and

programmed to place position and power and politics and wealth above

salvation and eternity and love! Programmed to put works in front of

grace… And we end up dashed to pieces instead of soft, wet clay in the

potter’s hands! If you overcome, and keep the works of Jesus (love, grace,

truth, suffering, service) then Jesus you will have!

Revelation Chapter 2 Verse 29

 You cannot hear these things with ears of flesh. To hear and know the

Lord, you must listen with ears of the spirit.