The Permissive Spirituality

(Rev 2:18-29 KJV) 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; {19} I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. {20} 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. {21} And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. {22} Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. {23} 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. {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. {25} But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. {26} And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: {27} 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. {28} And I will give him the morning star. {29} He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Today we continue our study of the seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation. This is the fourth church to be addressed concerning their spiritual condition before the Lord. The first had a problem with love, the second had a problem with hope, the third had a problem with faith and the fourth has a problem with being too permissive. Therefore, I titled this message The Permissive Spirituality. As loveless, hopeless and faithlessness are problems in our current times, so also is excessive permissiveness.

It is true that the Lord wants us to be tolerant, but, it is also true that He does not want us to be tolerant to the point where we give place to the devil. This is the warning to us in the letter to Thyatira. They, like many in our world today, had become so tolerant of everything that they were allowing the agents of the devil to teach and to seduce the people of God. Many churches and individuals that profess to be Christian today have fallen into the same trap. They allow anything and everything to be taught and practiced in their midst. It has gotten so today that nothing is sin.

Our culture has invented unique meanings to words so that they will sound kinder and not infer any wrongdoing on the part of the sinner. You rarely hear fornication or adultery anymore as those condemning words have been replaced with affairs. And our culture has become so lax in our attention to God’s Word that multitudes of Christians see no wrong in committing such acts. It has become common place for our children to become sexually active at early ages, to shack up, bear children and freely deride those that chose to live a righteous life. Our church leaders are encouraged and are encouraging others to be ever so cautious so as to not bring any sense of condemnation on these sins. We don’t want them to feel bad.

While the effort to help those that have sinned against God is admirable, there can be no ignoring the fact that they have sinned against God and God requires repentance. When you permit such teaching in your midst, you give place to the devil. You have become excessively permissive and Jesus is inviting you to repent.

Again we remind you that Jesus introduced Himself differently to each church. To the church in Thyatira, He introduces Himself as the son of God, who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. This characteristic represents Jesus in a judgement mode. We read in

(Rev 19:11-16 KJV) And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. {12} His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. {13} And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. {14} And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. {15} And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. {16} And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

I know that we like to think of Jesus in the loving mode, reaching out to the multitudes offering forgiveness and love, and that is our Lord. However, there is another side to our Lord and that side is one of Justice, Judgement and retribution. When His eyes fall on you as a flame of fire, you can be assured that it is not love that is being offered, but rather wrath. Jesus does expect every Christian to obey Him and learn of Him. He does not wish to turn the wrath of God loose upon you, but if you fail to obey Him, He has no choice. To the permissive spirituality, His eyes are as a flame of fire and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. There are some things that Jesus has no tolerance for:

(Mat 23:13-39 KJV) But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. {14} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. {15} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. {16} Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! {17} Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? {18} And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. {19} Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? {20} Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. {21} And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. {22} And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. {23} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. {24} Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. {25} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. {26} Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. {27} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. {28} Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. {29} Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, {30} And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. {31} Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. {32} Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. {33} Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? {34} Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: {35} That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. {36} Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. {37} O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! {38} Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. {39} For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

The sad thing about this sermon of the Lord is that it is to the religious leaders of that day. They had drifted so far away from the Word of God, that they could not distinguish between The Word and tradition. And, they had so changed their traditions over the years that the traditions were opposite to the teachings of God’s Word. This is what I see taking place in our time. The Word of God is being ignored and traditions are taking over. We don’t want anyone to feel bad about their sin and so we will call it by some other name. We will not preach or talk about sin. We will preach and talk about love, only, so that our members do not become offended. Do you realize what Jesus is thinking of such attitudes? Let me tell you, His eyes are as a flame of fire and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God.

(Mat 21:12-13 KJV) And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, {13} And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

It is evident that the activities of the time in the temple of God stirred the anger of the Lord. I wonder today what the Lord thinks of the various activities that occupy what is supposed to be a house of prayer. It has been my observation that prayer is the least practiced activity in most churches throughout the land. As for me, I refuse to replace prayer with any other activity. If there is anything that people need it is to pray. And yet if you will observe, many Christians do not pray at all and many pray very little especially in public worship. Where prayer has been replaced with other fun activities, the Lord is looking on with his eyes as a flame of fire and he is preparing to tread the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God.

Jesus said that the church in Thyatira allowed that woman, Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce His servants. Let us go into the Old testament and review this woman, Jezebel.

(Num 33:50-56 KJV) And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, {51} Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; {52} Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: {53} And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. {54} And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. {55} But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. {56} Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.

The instructions from God and given by Moses were clear. They were to drive the inhabitants of the land out and if they didn’t, they would be vexed. As you study the progress of the Children of Israel, you will observe that they did not drive all the inhabitants out and as a result they suffered much. This is true of your efforts to live a Christian life. Jesus expects you to drive all sin and sinful influences out of your life and if you don’t, you will suffer grief and heartache. Jezebel was a Canaanite woman that remained in the land.

(1 Ki 16:29-33 KJV) And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. {30} And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. {31} And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. {32} And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. {33} And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

Ahab, the King of Israel, took Jezebel, a Canaanite woman to be his wife and to please her, Ahab turned to the worship of Baal. According to Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, pg 206-207, Baal was “the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations… The worship of Baal amongst the Jews appears to have been appointed with much pomp and ceremonial… the worship was performed by burning incense and offering burnt-sacrifices which occasionally consisted of human victims… The officiating priests danced with frantic shouts around the altar, and cut themselves with knives to excite the attention and compassion of the god..” One of the methods of worship called Baal-peor “.. was connected with licentious rites.” Meaning sensually unbridled, lewd & unrestrained by law or morality.

This is what had happened to Thyatira and it is what has happened to many Christian churches in our land today. There is a lot of frantic shouting and much noise in some places along with sensually unbridled, lewd and unrestrained behavior. Jesus is looking on with his eyes as a flame of fire and he is preparing to tread the winepress of the fierceness and the wrath of God.

(1 Ki 18:13 KJV) Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?

Here we see the attitude of Jezebel toward the prophets of the Lord. She killed them and her spirit today is still the same. The spirit of Jezebel will do anything to kill the influence of the prophets of God.

(2 Ki 9:22 KJV) And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

(2 Ki 9:30-37 KJV) And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. {31} And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? {32} And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. {33} And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. {34} And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. {35} And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. {36} Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: {37} And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

And so we are reminded of the kind of woman Jezebel was. A woman noted for killing the prophets of God. A woman with the reputation of whoredoms and withcrafts. A woman that met her death in a violent manner. A woman that worshipped Baal, who taught the Children of Israel to worship Baal and to live unrestrained by law or morality. This is the condition of multitudes in our land today. Jezebel is teaching the people to yield themselves to sinful acts. She is teaching them that it is ok. She is being allowed to seduce the people of God with a free reign. Jesus is looking on with his eyes as a flame of fire and he is preparing to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of God. Jesus is saying to such as allow this spirit to operate, “I have a few things against thee..” As He gave Jezebel a space to repent, so He is giving you a space to repent. This is your opportunity, repent today while He is offering you the opportunity. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

It is time to put some judgement in your Christian experience. It is time to rise up against sin. It is time to proclaim the holy life that the Lord requires of every Christian.

(Psa 149 KJV) Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. {2} Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. {3} Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. {4} For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. {5} Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. {6} Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; {7} To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; {8} To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; {9} To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.