ISAIAH 55:7 - "Unrighteous Thoughts"

"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, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and thy last to be more than the first." (Revelation 2:18 & 19) This is the beginning of Christ's letter to the church of Thyatira, which many attribute to the Roman Catholic Church; however, there is something about this letter that we may want to pay close attention to. It is the part about Jezebel, and it says: "Jezebel which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." In the early church, there was a sentence put forth by James as to what would be required by the Gentile believers: "wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood." This sentence was made because these Gentile believers were being grafted into the Jewish Tree by their belief in Jesus Christ, and as such, many in the church were wanting them to be circumcised and to keep the Law of Moses; but James, being filled with the Holy Spirit made this sentence, and everyone else agreed. This Jezebel spoken about here in Revelation by Jesus, could very well refer to a spiritual principality; one which causes many within the church to become seduced by what Jezebel represented. This letter to Thyatira has a lot in common with the final letter that I have not touched on yet, which is Pergamos; but there are very specific differences, many of which will be apparent later; but for now, we will only look at this one, (it is enough!). Remember this very, very important fact, 'Sin Starts in the Heart'; therefore, you do not have to physically commit the act of sin to have actually committed the sin; but simply our thought can be enough to take us to the point of committing a sin, (for those of you in Shasta Lake, that means if you think it, you have done it). Do you know where your mind has been? Okay then; What about what you have allowed into your mind? Touchy subject isn't it? There has been an epidemic that has swept the globe over the last ten years; it has caused many in the church to become slaves to it; including those in leadership, and I mean Pastors too! This epidemic is pornography! Do not take my word for it, go to this website: musicforthesoul.org and then look for the (facts & stats) under News, and you will see for yourself; this is really ugly stuff. Here are some examples of what you will find: 37% of pastors admit to an ongoing struggle with pornography; there are 68 million hits a day to porn sites; over 50% of evangelical pastors report that they viewed pornography last year; 53% of Promise Keeper attendees viewed porn within a week before the event; there has been a 1800% pornography growth over the last 5 years. As you can see, this is more than just a problem, this is an assault from the enemy upon the church; and that is exactly how it must be viewed. When we look at the description Jesus gives to Himself in the opening of this letter, that description is one of judgement: "who has His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass"; do not kid yourselves, Jesus will be judging the church, and it shall not be pretty. In verses 22 & 23, Jesus makes a very strong decree about punishment, it should not be taken lightly: "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." Not to rosy sounding, is it? When He says, "I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts', what He is saying is the He searches our inner thoughts and our deepest desires. So, let me ask you again: Do you know where your mind has been? "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over nations: 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. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (Revelation 2:26-29)