In this sermon, the speaker warns against being deceived by false teachings and counterfeit beliefs. He emphasizes the importance of discerning the truth and being rooted in the word of God. The speaker cautions against groups that focus on the powers of evil and promotes division based on race and culture. He references the words of the Apostle Paul and Jesus' teachings on the signs of the last days. The sermon also highlights the characteristics of the present age, characterized by lawlessness and rebellion. The speaker urges believers to remain steadfast in their faith and to respond to God's word with a soft and receptive heart.

This is one of the Times Square Church pulpit series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, Post Office Box 260, Lindale, Texas, 75771, or by calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. to respond to your word that we'd not have to be turned out of the way, but rather healed. And I ask for healing to move by the power of your Holy Spirit, and according to your written word, that healing would go forth from this pulpit today, O God. Lord, promoting unity and promoting healing among brethren. God, touching areas where the enemy has gained access to the hearts of your children, and putting into flight like you did in the days of Gideon when he stood up against 135,000 Midianites. God, you set them into confusion and set their hand one against another, and a great victory was wrought that day for Israel. Let this be a day of great victory, O God. I'm asking today, Lord, that you give wings to this message, O Lord, and send it to every place that it needs to go, O God. Let every set of ears that needs to hear it hear it, O God. Let it penetrate every heart, every spirit, Lord, for we're not ignorant to the enemy's devices and what he's trying to do to the church in this last hour of time. But God, go forth with righteousness. Jesus, ride upon that white horse this day as King of kings and Lord of lords, and go throughout the land this day, O God, smiting the enemies of righteousness, O God. Lord, let your people come under servants and shepherds who have your heart, who have a heart of righteousness and truth, and who will draw you to the heart of Christ. Lord, deliver your people from false shepherds. Father, I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Revelation chapter 2. I'm continuing on a series of 7 messages that I'll be preaching on the churches of Revelation. This is the 5th message to the church of Thyatira. Once again, I'm asking, and the Lord is asking, that you would allow Christ to walk in the place where you are. These were young churches established primarily by the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul in Asia, and yet, only a short time after Christ, these churches had carried on, but some of them had fallen into various areas of disagreement, I suppose, with the nature of Christ. They thought they were doing good, but when Jesus came into their midst, he exposed things that, first of all, that were good. He had a lot of good things to say about the churches, some of them. And yet, his very presence, his very manifested presence, showed up things that were going on that were not of him. And we have to ask for that. We have to long for that if we're truly children of God. We have to long for his manifested presence in our lives, individually as well as corporately, to say, Jesus, manifest yourself within me. That if there's something in me, every man's way is right in his own sight. The scripture bears witness to that. But it's the Lord who searches the heart. And if truly you and I are children of God, we would say this day, God, search my heart. Jesus, manifest your presence within me like you did to the seven churches of Revelation. And if there's something good you want to speak, then Lord, let me hear it. But if there's something in my life that's out of order, that's not bringing honor to your name, if there's something that I have embraced and done or failed to do, then Lord Jesus, reveal it to me, that I may turn my feet again unto righteousness and be used as a vessel to bring honor to your name. Revelation chapter 2, beginning at verse 18. And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. I know your works and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first. 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 offered, sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. 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 searches the reins and hearts. And I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But I say unto you, 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, but that which you have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. 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 has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. Now, first of all, in verse 18, Jesus appearing to this church called Thyatira identifies himself as the all-seeing one. In other words, he says, These things saith the Son of God, who has his eyes like unto a flame of fire. Nothing is hidden from him. We as people can hide things with religious trappings. We can formulate theories about the way we think things should go or be in the kingdom of God. But Christ coming into our midst is the all-seeing one. And in this assembly today, for example, there's not one thing in this house that's hidden from the eyes of God. Not one thing. We can hide it from one another. We can hide it from the leadership. We can hide it from the congregation. But we cannot hide it from the eyes of the all-seeing one. He also describes himself as having feet like undefined brass. In other words, Christ is standing on a firm and unshakable foundation. And it's on this foundation that the church of Jesus Christ is built. You cannot build on any other foundation but that foundation that he has laid. The day of fire is coming to try every man's work. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3, verses 12 and 13 says, Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Some men's sins go before and some follow after to the judgment. Some works of righteousness equally will go before and are known by all. And some will follow after. But God's day is coming and every man's work is going to be tried of what sort it really is. Every one of us individually are going to stand before the throne of God. And if we truly have a heart for Christ, we will want to stand in his presence now and to have his light virtually radiate through our lives. Verse 19, he talks about Thyatira and he says, I know your works, your love, your service, your faith, your patience. And your last works are more than the first. In other words, Thyatira was an increasing church. They were increasing in love. They were increasing in devotion. They were increasing in separation unto the Lord. They were increasing in service unto God. And so it was a church that was growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. An incredible thing and I'm thankful that that's the very first thing that Jesus revealed to that church. And I'm thankful when he speaks to me, oftentimes it's the first thing he reveals to my life is the things that I'm doing well in his sight. Otherwise, I would be overwhelmed with sorrow. But there's something that Jesus said, I have against you as a church. In verse 20, he says, Notwithstanding, I have a few things against you. Because you suffer that woman Jezebel, which calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Now, who was this Jezebel? Obviously, a person or group of persons, whatever the case was, that Jesus saw something going on in that church and he said, I have an issue with this. And because I have an issue with this, I have an issue with you. Because you are a good church. You're an increasing church. You're a strong church. You're a dedicated church. But for whatever reason, you have allowed this woman to come into your midst. You have allowed this spirit to come into your midst and to teach and seduce my children to commit fornication and to eat things offered unto idols. Who is this Jezebel? I looked in numerous commentaries to find out what different historical writers throughout the church age have said about her. A man called Hendrickson in Hendrickson's pulpit commentary said this, said it this way, In the long dark wall of human infamy, there's not a darker name than that of Jezebel, the wife of Ahab. She was the great seducer to idolatry in the later history of Israel. As the worship of the Phoenician Astarte or Venus was accompanied with grossest impurity, her name became synonymous of all that was debasing and immoral. Of everything that was debasing and immoral, it was all boiled down and associated with Jezebel. Now Hendrickson says, I'm disposed to regard the name here as symbolical of some proud, persecuting, self-constituted authority on religion, haughtily vaunting claims of superior religious piety and theological excellence. The early church historian and writer Matthew Henry, speaking of this prophetess Jezebel said, These wicked seducers are compared to Jezebel and called by her name. Jezebel was a persecutor of the prophets of the Lord and a great patroness of idolaters and false prophets. The sin of these seducers is that they attempt to draw the servants of God into fornication and to offer sacrifices to idols. They called themselves prophets and so would claim a superior authority and regard to the ministers of the church. Others, for example, as the Christian Life Bible say that Jezebel was an actual literal person in the church of Thyatira. Now in any event, whether it was a single person or whether it was a group of persons, this Jezebel was spirit was at work in the church of Thyatira and had been number one promoting itself as a teacher of the word. Jezebel spirit is never content to sit and listen and learn and be part of the body. Jezebel spirit will always rise up and promote itself as a teacher of the word. But in reality, this spirit or this group was leading a group of people away from the presence of God and into fornication and idolatry. Every time the devil rises up and begins to work within the church, there's always a hook. There's something in this spirit that grips the hearts of the unwary and causes them to believe that what they're hearing is the truth. We see a clue to the hook in verse 24. He says, But unto you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not known this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak. Number one, the Jezebel spirit will claim to possess a deeper revelation of God's word than the church of Thyatira and its leaders. That was the spirit of Jezebel in that generation. And it will be the Jezebel spirit throughout every other generation in every other church. Beware, beware, beware of people who rise up in the church body and claim to possess a deeper revelation of God's word than those that God has placed in leadership over the church. It is also possible that they claim to have a deeper understanding of the ways of darkness. We look in verse 24. He says, Unto the rest of you and as many as have not known this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak. The American Standard Version of the Bible translates this verse by saying, To the rest of you who do not know the deep things of Satan as they are wont to say. In other words, there's a claim put forward by these people to have a deeper understanding of the workings of darkness than the leadership of the church. But in reality, they are under the spell and influence of darkness. Beware of any group that has a major focus on darkness that rises up in the church. You'll see movements arising all over the land that have their focus on demons and groupings of demons and how demons operate, how the names of demons, the authority structure of demons, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. That kind of theology flies right into the face of the Word of God. The Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 16 verses 20 and 21 said these words to the Roman church, I would have you to be wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Paul's saying to the church, I want you to know Jesus. I want you to know this Word inside out and backwards. I want you to allow this Word to penetrate your very heart and become very much who and what you are, just rooting out the old things of your life and allowing the nature of Christ to be formed within you. I don't want you dwelling on what is evil, but dwelling on what is good. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Quite recently, my family and I, we took a trip, a family holiday for a week and we went away somewhere. I went down to the bank just a few days before we left and I converted some currency into traveler's checks. And I had some $20 bills, American $20 bills and took them to a teller to count, had to count them out. And the teller had these bills and was just counting them one after another, as bank tellers do very, very quickly, just counting them over. And all of a sudden, stopped at a bill and walked over to me, give it to another person who came over to me and said, Mr. Conlon, we're very sorry to have to tell you, one of the $20 bills that you've given to us is a counterfeit bill. And so I walked over to the teller after and I said, how did you know that that was a counterfeit bill? I looked at it. I looked at other bills. They looked virtually the same to me. And the teller answered me something that, you know, the scripture says the children of darkness oftentimes are wiser than the children of light. She said to me something very simple. She said, I handle so much real money all the time that just the touch of something fake, I know it right away. The Royal Bank of Canada years ago used to conduct a counterfeit bill course, a course in fraud. And they would send all of their employees, all of their tellers to this course. And they would spend about three weeks in this particular course. And the whole course, the whole time that they were on course, they never, ever saw one counterfeit bill. All they did is study the real. They studied real ones and fives and tens and twenties. They felt them. They learned about them. They knew how they were made. They smelled them and tasted. I don't know what else they have to do on this kind of a course. But the moment a counterfeit bill would touch their fingers, they would know it. Beware of groups that have their focus on the powers of evil. Remember the words of the Apostle Paul. I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. You'll be counting along. You'll be going on in your Christian walk, studying the word of God, loving Jesus, all of a sudden, somebody says something and it stops you, jars you right in your tracks because you know, you know the real. And as soon as they speak, you know this is not from the Lord because it jars something in your spirit. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't look right. It doesn't taste right. Something's wrong with it. Something's wrong with it. The issue that Christ had against this faithful church is that most of the people knew better. But for some unknown reason, they were tolerating this spirit that was in their midst and not standing against it. Jesus said to this church, by your compliance or by your lack of resistance, you are allowing her to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication. Now, in order to understand what type of fornication Jesus is talking about, we need to understand what true unity in the spirit is, what a true bond of unity is. I think the apostle Paul puts it forward the best in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 31 and 32. He's speaking of a true union between a man and a woman, a marriage. And he likens it unto Christ in the church. He says, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. The true bride of Christ leaves the things of the past, leaves the old ways of thinking, the old ways of doing things, the old ways of reasoning, the old ways of loving even, all the old ways are, as a man leaves his father and mother, the true church of Christ leaves what's in the past in the past. The ways that we used to think, the ways we used to walk, the way we used to live, we leave it in the past and we come into the presence of God and are joined together in one spirit with Christ. We take on a new nature. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things pass away and all things become new. There's a union with Christ. A new nature is given unto us and we put off the old deeds of the old man. We put off the old carnal ways and put on Christ and we are renewed in the image of Christ with holiness and body, soul and spirit. We become a new person in Christ Jesus. That's the true unity. That's what Jesus is coming to the church for. That's what he was trying to give revelation in the seven churches in the book of Revelation of Christ. He was coming and showing them directions they were going in which was taking them away from that purity of unity and leading them into a pathway of fornication. The spirit of Jezebel pushes the children of God into spiritual fornication by becoming one in spirit with the unsaved of this world. I'm going to say that once again and I want you to listen carefully. The spirit of Jezebel pushes the children of God into spiritual fornication by becoming one in spirit with the unsaved of the world. That is the spirit of Jezebel. Anybody that ever tries to use that I've heard that term bandied about for the last 17-18 years of being a Christian. I've heard it used in all kinds of contexts. Anybody who uses that in any other context does not know their Bible and does not know what they're talking about. A Jezebel spirit pushes the children of God like Jezebel did the wife of Ahab into spiritual fornication. That's what Jezebel did in the Old Testament and that's what Jezebel was doing in the Church of Thyatira. She was seducing the servants of God to commit fornication not physical fornication but spiritual fornication against the Lord. Look at the book of Ephesians please chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 beginning at verse 1. I want to show you what a Jezebel spirit does. Paul says, And you has he quickened in other words, made alive, changed, brought out of darkness, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Verse 2 wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world. Did you walk according to the course of the world before you got saved? People that are here, did you? Did you? Did you hate and lie and lust and do all of these things? You walk that way according to the prince of the power of the air who's behind that spirit. The prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. There is a spirit, a lawless spirit working all throughout the world now bringing us to the fulfillment the culmination of all things that will eventually bring the world to a state of absolute devastation and that will bring us to the place where Christ will return in triumph. There's a spirit working in the children of disobedience. If you don't have the Holy Spirit of God in these coming days you're not going to be able to stand against it. It will overpower you if you're not absolutely and entirely an embracer of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and coming King. There is no other defense against this spirit. James chapter 4 verse 4 he says, the apostle James says you adulterers and adulteresses that's strong terminology. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whosoever will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. In other words, he's saying that those that embrace the thinking and the ways of the world you say you belong to Christ but you embrace the world and you embrace the spirit that works now in the children of disobedience that's promoted by the prince of the power of the earth and you say you belong to God. James is saying this is spiritual adultery in the sight of God. Galatians chapter 5 please just turn back one book and look there with me. Galatians chapter 5 the apostle Paul talks about this spirit which is referred to as the flesh consistently throughout the New Testament. Galatians chapter 5 verse 19 now the works of the flesh are manifest which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, violence, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like of the which I tell you before as I've also told you in times past that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Now an alternate translation for verse 20 says it this way idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, strife, jealousy, passionate anger, intrigues, divisions, and sectarian parties or in other words self-interest groups. The Jezebels of this church age are hard at work trying to unite the hearts of God's children with the spirit of this age. I want to look at four dominant characteristics of this age and show you how the Jezebel spirit is working throughout the church to unite the hearts of God's people with the spirit that works in the children of disobedience. Spiritual fornication. This age is known for its love of money. Would you agree with me on that? It's lust of money. Now turn with me to the book of 1st Timothy, please, chapter 6. 1st Timothy. You'll have to turn really fast because we have a lot of scriptures to go through. Be advisable to keep one finger perhaps the index of your Bible. 1st Timothy chapter 6. The Apostle Paul now warning. Paul was always warning. Especially to Timothy about the spirit of lawlessness that would be in the last days. In 1st Timothy chapter 6, he talks about those that promote the love of money. There are no shortage of these Jezebel prophets throughout the church of Jesus Christ in North America. Would you agree with me on that today? That Jezebel spirit has been running rampant throughout the church now for probably 20 years or more. The Apostle Paul says, if any man teach otherwise, verse 3, 1st Timothy 6, 3. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth. Supposing that gain is godliness, from such withdraw thyself. I believe it's NIV version of the Bible that says supposing that godliness is a means to financial gain, from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. Verse 9, But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of some evil. Is that what your Bible says? All evil. Which while some coveted after, they have erred from what? The faith. The faith, not from heathenism, not from unregenerate society, but they have erred from the faith because of the Jezebel spirit that has been working and causing spiritual fornication to come into the hearts and lives of God's people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity against God? You cannot, Jesus said, love God and mammon. You cannot. You neither love one and hate the other or hate one and love the other, but you cannot serve both. They have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. Run from them and follow after righteousness and godliness and faith and love and patience and meekness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life whereunto thou art also called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses. Run from these things, Paul says. But the Apostle Paul, if God anointed the Apostle Paul under the unction of the Holy Spirit to write this in the word of God, how much should you and I be fleeing these things? And say, Oh God, don't let me fall under the ministry of anybody that will move me towards loving money. There are all kinds of pyramid sales organizations now in the States and networking corporations and such that have embraced and formulated their own Jezebel gospel that are somehow telling the people that through the acquisition of financial and material things that you're going to be happy and successful. You're going to prosper, that that's God's will for your life. That's a Jezebel spirit. Drawing the hearts of those that would escape from them that are polluted into into a worse condition than they were before. Better to have not known the way of truth than after having known it to turn again to the things that we left behind. This age is known for its lawlessness and rebellion. In 2nd Timothy, just turn ahead. 2nd Timothy chapter 3. The Apostle Paul in verse 1. He says, This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come. Men will be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce. Incontinent means unable to retain anything. Always learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth. Just like a bucket with no bottom. You pour in and you pour in. You lift it up by the handle. There's nothing there. It all pours out. That's what incontinent means. Fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Verse 6. For of this sort are they which creep into houses. They creep into houses and they lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with diverse lusts. Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Janice and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith. Now look at me, please. Jezebels are resistors of truth and godly authority. They cannot come under authority and thus become their own authority by attempting to attack and destroy the authority that God has placed over his church. Do you hear me clearly this morning? That's what a Jezebel spirit cannot come under authority and will not come under authority. So they must destroy the existing authority in order that they can establish themselves as an authority over God's people. You see an illustration of this in 1 Kings 19. Please don't turn there. The prophet Elijah had just confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. You know the story, the fire of God had come down. A great, great victory had been won that day and the people were turning to the Lord. 450 prophets of Baal were slain that day and the people were turning to God. They said when they saw the fire, when they saw the holy presence of God on that altar, they said the Lord is God, the Lord is God, the Lord is God. And then the very next day, Jezebel rises up. She heard that her prophets were being slain and sent word to Elijah and said, I will do the very same thing to you. I'll take your head off by this. I'll take your life away by this time tomorrow. Elijah represented the authority of God. God through Elijah was turning the hearts of the fathers back to their children, the children to their fathers. God through Elijah was restoring a holy altar, was restoring a place of understanding in the nation. And Jezebel could not come under that authority and so she went for the head of Elijah. And that's the spirit that you find very much in this age when God raises up holy men and women of God that are turning the people back to the Lord and away from the spirit of this age. They will rise up against them and go for their lives because they cannot come under authority. This age is also known for division along the lines of race, social status and culture. The apostle James in James chapter 2, he talks about not giving preference to those that are rich over those that are poor coming into the house of the Lord. And God forbid that we should ever fall to the spirit of this age in the house of the Lord and start preferring those that are rich and speaking softly and kindly to them and speaking harshly to the poor and giving the good seats to those that have a lot to give financially to the church and giving the poor seats to those that are in rags and have nothing to give to God. God says if this ever gets in your heart, if it ever gets in your church, you have become judges with evil thoughts. That's a Jezebel spirit that draws a distinction in social status. Jezebels promote division in the body of Christ based on race and culture. Matthew chapter 24, Jesus speaking of the signs of the last days that we're living in. He says nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. The word in Matthew 24 for nation in the Greek is ethnos, which means ethnic culture will rise against ethnic culture. We see that spirit all over the world now operating in the children of disobedience. Do we not? Ethnic culture rising against ethnic culture. The wars in Bosnia and places like this and all over the globe now, you're seeing ethnic culture now rising up against ethnic culture. We've seen it in different places of the world and surely as I stand here, these types of wars are going to break out over the face of the whole earth before Christ comes. It's a spirit moved by the prince of the power of the air. Those without the spirit of God are helpless to fight against it. It's a gripping spirit. It's the spirit of the age, if I can call it such. Ethnic culture rising up against ethnic culture. The Apostle Paul in writing to Titus, he said, he was talking about false prophets that were rising up in the church and one of the characteristics in Titus chapter 1, verses 12 and 13, he said, one of themselves even a prophet of their own has said that Christians are always liars, evil beasts and slow bellies. You see, there was a man who had risen up to authority and he was stereotyping within the body. And Paul says, this witness is true, wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith. Paul was saying to Titus, don't let that spirit of the age get into the church. The Apostle Paul says in Galatians 3, 28, there's neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female. You are all one in Christ Jesus. There's neither black, there's not white, there's not yellow, there's not red, there's not brown in the body of Christ. You are all one in Christ Jesus in the house of the Lord. A week ago on Christian radio, there was a man that spoke at a promise keepers convention in the not too distant past. And this man got up and he was pleading with the people and he was saying, he was speaking at this convention and the people of his own particular race within the church had risen up and threatened him with physical violence if he went and spoke at this convention. They said, if you go to this place, you're betraying the brotherhood, whatever that's supposed to be. You're betraying the brotherhood if you go there and speak at this conference which is predominantly men and women or men of another race. And he got up and he said at that meeting, what is that spirit that's moving within those who say they know the Lord within my own race and my own culture that threatens me with physical violence if I get up to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to my brothers in the Lord at this convention? What is that spirit? And how did it get into the church? Several months ago at the end of a service, there was a precious, precious couple who came to me at the end of a service back behind the platform and she was of one race and her husband was of another race. And they came to the platform, they were in tears. They said, what we see here at Times Square Church, they said, we love it. It's incredible to see all these people of different races, of different cultures, different backgrounds worshipping God with such a unity in the spirit. It's just wonderful. And they were weeping and crying. They said, where we come from, it was another place in this country. There's not a church to be found like this anywhere. She was of one race, he was of another. They had one child that had the coloration of one race and one child that had more of a coloration of another. And they said, if we go to the church that is of my husband's race, the people there will reject me. I can't even take membership. We took my husband and children to a church that's of my race and they wouldn't allow him membership in the church because he's of another race. She said, on Sunday morning, we have to drop one of our children off over here at this church. We have to drop one of our children. Oh God! I feel the pain of that family. There are preachers rising up now all over the country. They're promoting division based on race. They're promoting racial superiority in one form or another. I say, I speak prophetically now to all of these men and women all throughout this country and anybody who hears my voice on tape in the future, I declare unto you by the word of the Lord, you drop this hypocrisy, this farcical hypocrisy that you call Christianity and get saved. Get saved. Until you can look a man in the face and not see beyond the color of his skin, you cannot justifiably say the Spirit of God is upon your life. There is no distinction in Christ Jesus. There's no color. There's no black. There's no white. There's no brown. There's no red. There's no yellow in Christ Jesus. And those who promote division along the lines of race are the Jezebel prophets of this age. I stand against them by the Spirit of God. I believe that God's Spirit's going to raise a standard against them in this hour. Declare them to be the false prophets in God's house that they are. Promoters of hate and bigotry and greed and envy. The whole time sanctimoniously using their puppets for their own political objectives and their own gain. Children of hell, corrupted, twice dead, plucked up by the roots, to whom the midst of darkness is reserved forever. You cannot have the Spirit of God upon your life and see color in the house of God. Several months ago, I believe it was last July, I preached a message in this church called that they all may be one. It was along the lines of prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father. He said, Father, I pray that they may be one as you and I are one. That the world may know that you have sent me. And I talked in that message last July about the necessity of dropping all of the racial tags and all of the cultural division that is so often found. It's in the world, but I share to dare not ever be found in the church. We can't harbor unforgiveness no matter what has happened in the past. You realize, child of God, it's not an option to harbor unforgiveness in your life. Irrespective of what's happened to your family or your ancestry, whatever the case, it's not an option. Jesus said, if you don't forgive every man, they're trespassers. Neither will my heavenly Father forgive your trespassers. I preached on love and unity and forgiveness and tolerance in the body of Christ. And the next day on Monday morning, one of the ministers in this church walked in to one of the church offices and a person who was formerly on the Times Square church staff, as this person walked by, said, they're going to hang him. They're going to hang him. Making reference to a group of people that were in this church. Because I had preached on love, I had preached on tolerance. I had preached on the fact that there is no skin color in the kingdom of God. There's no preferential treatment in the eyes of God. He doesn't see one race above another, one person above another, one class above another. And as this minister walked by, this person said, they're going to hang him. Now, I have a question for you. What is the spirit that was in this group of people that would cause them to want to hang a man who stands and preaches love and unity and tolerance in the body of Christ? What's the motivating spirit behind that? My second question is just a stinging. How did they get into the church in the first place? How did it happen that this thing was able to be promoted in the house of God? If you're not sure that you're under a Jezebel spirited ministry, I have three questions I want you to ask. Not only here, but anywhere. And anybody who hears this message by tape in the future. If you want to know if you're under a Jezebel ministry, ask these three questions to your leadership. Number one, do you believe that all men are created equal before God? Number two, do you believe that God has equally given the message of reconciliation and equally commissioned all men of all races without preferring one above another? Question number three, do you believe that there is absolutely no partiality with God? If you can't get a resounding yes to those three questions, then my brother, my sister, you flee out of that place like you'd run from a rattlesnake. You get out of there. You get out of there. They'll talk about freedom. They'll talk about liberty in these places. They'll talk about just causes. But Peter says, we're promising you liberty. They themselves are the servants of corruption. They're slaves of corruption while they promise you liberty. Lastly, this generation is known for its consistent evil speaking. That's the spirit of this age. Evil speaking on a constant basis. Psalm chapter 12 verse 4, David said, here's what these people say, who have said with our tongue, we will prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? The apostle Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 14, for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you will love your neighbor as yourself. Hallelujah. All the law is fulfilled in one word. You will love your neighbor as yourself. Doesn't that fulfill it all? A teacher came to Jesus, tempting him and said, Master, what's the greatest commandment? And without hesitation, Jesus said, you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength. And the second is like unto it, you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. On these two, hang all the law on the prophets. If you love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength, then you'll automatically love your neighbor irrespective of background or where they come from or what they do or how they smell or how they talk or how they look. You'll love them because Christ loves them. This is the end of side one. But if he says, you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. If you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. I have a question for you this day. Are you taking a stand for righteousness? Or are you sitting in complacency while the Jezebel spirit of this age seeks out and seeks God? I preached a message several months ago called Wolves. And those in that tape, there are six strategies at the end to protect yourself from the strife of tongues. And if you have that tape, may I encourage you please to listen to it again. And if you don't, there are 300 copies available in the rotunda after the service today. You can get a copy for your family, not one for each in your family, but one per family. If we run out of them, you can order some more and we'll have another print done by next week. The cost is very minimal. If you can't afford it, just tell the people at the table you can have it for free. But please get that tape and listen to it. It gives you an incredible strategy at the end for dealing with the strife of tongues and protecting yourself from falling prey to a Jezebel or a wolfish spirit. I challenge you with all of my heart as one of the shepherds of this block in Times Square Church to take a stand. We hear a lot of talk about zero tolerance in our society. I hear on the radio that we have zero tolerance for alcohol, zero tolerance for abuse, zero tolerance for this, zero tolerance for that. But I want to challenge you today that we need to have zero tolerance in our lives and in the church for the spirit of this age. Absolutely no tolerance for it. It doesn't belong in us as children of God. We're not to be lawless and rebellious. We're not to be under the strife of tongues. We're not to be promoting or being part of or even giving assent to by our quietness to the Jezebel spirit of this age. Now I'll go to Revelation 2. I want to show you the end of Jezebel and her followers. Revelation chapter 2. Now you see the tenderness of Jesus to all. Pastor David preached a message a few weeks ago talking about the pain in the heart of God when he has to judge one of his own children. In verse 21, he says, I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. In other words, I gave her time. I didn't do it right away. There's a danger sometimes in that though for those that are caught in iniquity. In Psalm 50, it says, Because I kept silence, you thought I was altogether like you all. There's a season of silence even sometimes when we're in sin that God doesn't judge immediately. He says, I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not. Behold, verse 22, I will cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. Another, the Christian New Testament says, I'm laying her on a bed of sickness. The New Evangelistic Bible says, I'm laying her on a bed of pain and I will bring great suffering upon those who are unfaithful with her. And I will kill her children with death. All the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts. And I will give every one of you according to your works. That's the most tragic of all, brothers and sisters, those who fall prey to this spirit. There was a God in the Old Testament called Molech that they would heat up and cause the arms of it to turn red hot. Then they would take their sons and daughters, lay them on the arms and burn them to death. The Lord says, I will kill her children with death. In other words, because you will be part of, if you let this spirit get ahold of you, you will be in constant controversy. You'll be always striving. You'll be involved in sectarian parties, as the scripture says, or self-interest groups. You'll be always promoting causes other than the cause of Christ. Your heart won't be God's heart. And the most tragic result of this kind of a religion is that in your children, it burns out of them the desire for a wholehearted, a wholesome relationship with Christ. Our sons and daughters look at what you're doing. They look at what you're embracing. And they say, I don't want any part of mom and dad's religion. If this is, if your religion is just constant turmoil and bickering and division, you see, the children are sometimes more wise than the parents are. They look at it and say, I'm not living my life like this. I don't want this. Do you see the necessity of having holiness in the house of God, the righteousness of Jesus in our tongues, learning to come under godly authority, learning to stay in a place of work, of being led by the still waters and fed good pasture? Do you understand that today? It's not just for your soul's sake and my soul's sake, but it's for our sons and daughters. It's for our children that they would have a true burning desire for Christ in their lives. Now, Jesus says to those, to he who overcomes and keeps my works unto the end. Verse 26, I will give him power over the 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. Now the apostle Jude gives a glimpse of this day coming in Jude verse 14. He talks about, he says, And Enoch, also the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurs, complainers, walking after their own lusts, their mouths speaking great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. Verse 19, These be they who separate themselves sensual. In other words, sensual. They have not the spirit of God, but they have the spirit of this age upon them, bringing about the vision and murmurings and complainings and accusations, having not the spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And if some have compassion, making a difference and others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his joy, his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. To him that overcomes, Jesus said, I'll give you power over the nations. There's a day coming when we're going to sit and rule and reign with Christ. There's saints are coming, Jude said. Enoch prophesied of them, said, the Lord's coming to execute judgment upon all and to convince them that are ungodly of their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed and their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. You see, these people are not new to this. There are people who knew what it was to take a stand for righteousness on the earth. Do you think that you can sit in this house and murmur and complain? Do you think you can be part of God's church and murmur and complain and cause division and rebellion in the house of God? And then one day you're going to come riding on a horse and make it all right on the earth? No, no, absolutely not. These people that are riding with Jesus learned how to do this on this side of eternity. They learned how to take a stand against unrighteousness. They weren't part of it. They didn't want it to touch them. They didn't want any part of the sensuality of this generation and this age and the Jezebel spirit of this age. They wanted to be holy and separated and set apart for God. Their very lives were a rebuke to those that have embraced the spirit of this age. They didn't sit in a quiet sense, if I can call it such a quiet agreement with this thing, but they spoke up and spoke the truth. That's why they're riding with Jesus on that day. Hallelujah. And then he says in verse 28, most importantly, and I will give him the morning star. Hallelujah. Now I want to show you what that morning star is. Go to Revelation chapter 22, please. I'll conclude with this scripture. I'll give him the morning star. Revelation chapter 22, verse 13. Jesus said, I am the Omega, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates of the city for without, that's without the kingdom of God, are dogs and sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, that's brother haters. Jesus said, anyone who hates his brother is a murderer and has no life in him, idolaters and whosoever loves and makes a lie. They're all outside the kingdom of God. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. That is happening this day as well as it did back then. I am the root of the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus is saying, Tyra, if you will take a stand against this thing, if you'll take a stand in your own heart first, if you'll take a stand in your home, if you'll take a stand among your children, if you'll take a stand in the assembly of the righteous, I will give you a revelation of who I am. Hallelujah. The one who's walking in the midst of the seven candlesticks will no longer be an outside there God, but he will be an inside you God. Hallelujah. I will give you the morning star. Hallelujah. If we're truly children of God, the one thing we should cherish and long for more than anything in this world is an absolute revelation of Jesus Christ. Oh God, be revealed in my life. Be revealed in my life. Let your ways become my ways. Your thoughts are higher than my thoughts and your ways are higher than my ways. Let me not be gripped by the spirit of this age, but let me be gripped by the spirit of almighty God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thy Tyra, if you will stand, I'll give you the morning star. I'll give you the morning star. Jesus is saying first though, I want you to take a stand for righteousness in my house and I want you to oppose the spirit of this age. Turn with me one, one last scripture. Psalm 101. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Psalm 101. Take a stand, says the Lord. Our prayer needs to be, Lord give me courage to recognize and oppose the Jezebel spirit of this age. First, in my own life, God, if this thing has gotten into my heart, give me the courage to recognize it and to oppose it. And second, give me the courage to recognize it and oppose it in your house. Thank you, Lord, for giving me discernment and the courage to stand for righteousness. David says in Psalm 101, I will sing of mercy and judgment. Oh Lord, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. If David were here today and said, I'd hate the Jezebel spirit of this age, the spirit of lawlessness and division and rebellion, and it will not get into my heart. It's not going to cleave to me. I'm not going to be joined together with this thing. I'm going to be joined together with Christ. The two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery. Nevertheless, I speak concerning Christ and his church. A froward heart, he said, a crooked heart or a perverse heart, in other words, will depart from me. I will know a wicked person. The word know talks about intimate communion. I will not intimately commune with a person that has a wicked heart. I will put them away from me. I'm separating myself unto the Lord. God, I'm going to be joined to you and not to the spirit of this age. And whomever it operates through, whoso privileged slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off. Whoever slanders his neighbor, I will cut him off. Cut him off. I'm learning that lesson so deeply in my own heart. And as Pastor David has shared also, that God's teaching both of us that the absolute hatred in the heart of God for slander, a froward heart shall depart from me. And whoever privileged slanders his neighbor, him will I cut off. He that has a high look and a proud heart, I will not suffer. He who exalts himself above the order of God in his house, those that stand up and profess to have deeper revelation than those that are leading the church, those that stand up and claim to have a thorough understanding of the patterns and ways of darkness, I won't have anything more to do with them. I won't suffer them. That's a high look and a proud heart. I won't have any more to do with them. My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land. That they may dwell with me. And he that walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that works deceit shall not dwell within my house. And if David were able to write this, he couldn't because of the day he had. But he would say also on the telephone, he that works deceit shall not dwell within my house. I will not let a deceitful worker into my house. Whether it's in person, whether it's from a fax machine, whether it's on the telephone or over the television. I will not let them into my house anymore. He that tells lies shall not tarry in my sight. In other words, shall be cast out of my sight. I will put them away. I will take a stand for righteousness. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land. That I might cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Would you please stand? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This is Mother's Day. It was a very hard message for me to preach for on Mother's Day. But it's better to obey the Lord. I want to give a word to all the mothers that are here today. We have recently, as a church, come through a season of the strife of tongues. What devastates my heart, I think more than anything else, is how the youth group has been hurt in this house. We were gaining and building. We were phoning. And young people who were backslidden from the Lord, who had become disillusioned with God, were coming back into the house of God. We'd gone from 30 or so in the youth meetings up to 70. They were growing in grace and knowledge of Christ. The strife of tongues got a hold of some in this house and has virtually almost devastated that group. It's the children that get hurt. I want to challenge you mothers that are in this house to take a stand for righteousness. You're not just fighting for yourself. You're fighting for your children. You're fighting for your sons and daughters. I have heard it justifiably said that the hand that rocks the cradle shapes the nation. It's true. Moms that are here today, that have been involved in the strife of tongues, you need to turn. And those that have maybe never have, but you never took a stand against it. That's what Jesus said to Thyatira. You're a good church. You're a working church. You're a standing church. But you allowed this woman Jezebel to come into your midst. You allowed her to teach and seduce some of my servants to commit fornication. And you didn't do anything about it. You didn't stand against it. It was going on in your midst and you just sat there and you said, well, we'll let the elders look after it. Let the pastors look after it. But you didn't speak against it. You knew it was wrong. And so now we see the love of God burnt once again out of the hearts of some of our teens. My covenant God, give us wisdom in the hour that we're living in. There are those who say they're leaders in the body and yet they sow division. And they come in and bring accusation and slander against the church. A true shepherd of God would never hurt the little lambs. Never hurt them. A true shepherd of God, if he had a controversy against the church, he would pack his bag, shut his mouth and move on. But there are harlings over the church. They don't care about the little ones. They care about their own reputation. They care about their own ministries. They care about getting their way or their chunk of flesh. And they couldn't care less about the children. I stand against them in the name of the Lord. Never, never, never in a thousand years would I ever do anything to hurt a child of God in his house. How dare they claim to be leaders in the kingdom of God. How dare they before God and hurt his children. Prophet Isaiah talked about the spirit of God when it's upon a man, gathers up the lambs in his arms and holds them close to his heart because his heart is the heart of God. Woe be unto those that say they know God and slander and cause those little ones that believe in Christ to fall. Better for them that they are tied a millstone around their neck and be cast into the sea because one day they have to stand before a holy God and give account of every soul they sent back into hell again. I'm not angry at anybody in this house. I'm angry at sin. I despise it with all of my heart. Those that stand up under a pretense of righteousness that takes God's children and cast them into the fire. Woe be unto all of them. I charge them before God that they're hypocrites. I charge them before the Lord. God said, I have held my peace. I have kept silence all this time and they began to think I was like they are. But he said, I will set these things in order before your eyes. Your mothers in Zion get a copy of this tape today and you give it to every child, every teenager in this house that has fallen because of the strife of tongues. Every young person, every family, give them a copy of it and let them make a clear-cut decision before God. I stand against this whole thing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mothers in Zion, take a stand for righteousness and truth and what you know is right. Take a stand. Don't let yourself be ensnared by the strife of tongues while our children are cast out of the presence of God. I invite first the mothers that are here today and God's speaking to your heart. You say today it was within my power to do something but I didn't. But never again, never again, I'm going to fight for every child that's in this house. You see these children I'm singing here today, how precious they are in the sight of God. I was looking at the little ones on the platform yearning, just yearning. It was so wonderful to watch them yearning for the day they could sing in that choir. Wouldn't it be awful to see that burned out of their hearts because of tongues, because of those that rise up in rebellion and exalt themselves and those who say they're leaders and don't care for the little ones. Never again, never again, never again. I purpose in my heart, never again, never under any circumstance. I will not allow the work of hell to cling to my spirit under any circumstance. Mothers that are here today, that maybe it's within your power to take a stand in your home or your church or your neighborhood, your community, but you're timid. I want to ask you to come to this altar and I believe with all my heart that God's going to give you the strength. I believe it. It's Mother's Day and God wants to give you a gift. Would you step out from wherever you are and come to this altar? Mothers in this house, Mothers of Zion, Mothers of Zion, those that want to come and fight for your children, please just step out right now wherever you are and come. There are others here. I want to let the mothers come first. All of the mothers first. I've held my peace for a long time. But today's the first day I've ever had a release to speak. That it be known clearly where I stand and where the Lord stands in this thing. There are others here today that you need courage and conviction to stand against the love of money in your life and in the house of God, lawlessness and rebellion. You've seen it but not been able to stand against it. Division, horrid division along lines of race and social status and culture. God forbid that that should ever be found in this house, in the house of the Lord, that evil spirit found in God's house. If there's any of that in your heart, come and God will give you the courage to stand against it. I know that not everybody is going to be able to come to this altar today. I gave an altar call along these lines once before and ran into a real wall. Only a trickle came out and I knew in my spirit something's wrong. There's something a lot bigger here than I can see or understand. But this day I see a release in the spirit. People are coming. If you have something in your heart against somebody because they have a different skin color, you need to repent. You may not be able to make it to this altar because of the volume of people, but you need to repent today. That's the spirit of lawlessness and rebellion. That's the spirit of this age. And don't let any Jezebel ministry come along and plant it deeper in your heart. Evil speaking. Friends, we need to take a stand. We want the righteousness of Jesus. We want the manifested presence of Jesus. Pastor David has been saying for a couple of weeks now that we feel like we're on the edge of something. God wants to take us into somewhere deeper and do something new. And I know what that edge is. I've known it in my spirit for a little while now. He says, you're a good church, but you've got to take a stand against these things. You can't be a partaker of them anymore. You've got to stand for the truth and for righteousness, for you know what it is and you've got to stand for it now. Oh, hallelujah. Anybody now that the Lord has convicted you today of something in your own life, you have embraced the spirit of this age. Would you come? You say, oh, Jesus has walked in the midst of my candlestick and I see something in me today. I have embraced something that's not of God, but I know how to lay it down. Just humble yourself. That's how you lay it down. Humble yourself. Don't try to do it in your own strength. Come to God. You say, Lord, this is in my heart. It's probably been there all my life. How do I get rid of it? Humble yourself. Humble yourself before God and he'll take it out of your heart. So help me in the name of God. We're not going to lose one more young person out of this house. Not one more. I'll fight for them to the last one. We're not going to lose one more out of the house of God. Oh, Jesus. Jesus. Now, I want to ask the mothers that are here today. Pray with me this prayer. Lord Jesus, give me the courage to recognize and to oppose the Jezebel spirit of this age. First, in my own life and secondly, in your house. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me discernment and the courage and the courage and the courage to stand, to stand, to stand for righteousness, for righteousness. Help us as mothers of Zion to close ranks, round about our children, our sons and daughters, that the wicked one would not come and destroy any of our children. Satan, we rebuke you in the name of the Lord. We stand against you in the name of Jesus. We cast you down in Jesus' name. God, send revival. Send the fire of your Holy Spirit. Give us the morning star. Give our children the morning star. Give this church the morning star. Jesus, give us a revelation of who you are in our hearts and in our lives and in our homes and in this sanctuary when we gather to meet. May it be written over this house. The morning star lives here. Holiness unto the Lord. This is the conclusion of the tape.