The Sins of Thyatira

# 43 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 1Ti 1:20 - “of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Tim 1:20) As believers, you and I are living, Holy Spirit filled entities, and as such we must deal with our sin. This is done through personal confession, contrition, repentance, and receiving God's forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. If we as individual sinners refuse to repent of our sins, and bring them to the cross, then we will have no place in the Kingdom of God! Listen to what Jesus told Peter about keeping ourselves clean in Joh 13:8, “ Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Washing feet speaks of a daily cleansing from the accumulated dirt of one's travels. and is necessary to “have a part” in Jesus! So it is with the cleansing of our sins. The church (the local congregation) is also a living Holy Spirit organism that is also charged with dealing with the sin of it's individual members. This cleansing of the church is why Paul wrote in 2Co 11:2, “ For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” Further, pay attention to what the Holy Spirit says concerning churches in Eph 5:25-27, “ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” The church is to police itself in the matter of sin in it's members. To tolerate sin is to become like the church of Thyatira spoken of in Revelation. Re 2:20 "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.” Isn't that interesting? The two incidents of church discipline (delivering the offender over to Satan, (excommunication) mentioned in the Bible, involved sexual sin and false teaching! And the tolerance of these two sins is singled out in the church at Thyatira. Maybe we ought to make note of it!