Revelation 2:24
24 But[de] unto you[humin] I say,[lego] and[kai] unto the rest[loipoy] in[en] Thyatira,[Thuateira] as many as[hosos] have[echo] not[ou] this[taute] doctrine,[didache] and[kai] which[hostis] have[ginosko] not[ou] known[ginosko] the depths[bathos] of Satan,[Satanas] as[hos] they speak;[lego] I will put[ballo] upon[epi] you[humas] none[ou] other[allos] burden.[baros] KJV-Interlinear
24 'But I say to you, the rest
who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep
things of Satan, as they call them —I
place no other burden on you. NASB
The philosophy of Jezebel maintains that one can do
pretty much anything in life and still retain access to God and His good
graces.
This includes anyone who rejects the Bible, rejects
obedience to the Bible, defines their own spiritual life, invents their own
beliefs whether religion, cult, or otherwise, defines what they will or will
not do with their life, and so forth.
Unbelievers have their own judgment to contend
with, in due course.The only question
pertinent to their life is what they think of Christ.
Believers on the other hand, have an obligation to
God, to Christ, to doctrine and to their spiritual life, and to pursue their spiritual
life in accordance with Gods will and rules, not their own. The believer does not have the right to abuse
or redefine Gods rules to their convenience.
These are the folks (believers) that are in view,
in our passage.Believers
who have drifted away from legitimate doctrine and have adopted the Jezebel
philosophy of lasciviousness or asceticism.
To them, is reserved ‘tribulation,’ as mentioned earlier.And the
tribulation here means suffering, discipline, trial, distress, and so forth. And this is the punishment that comes from
God, not from the world.There is a
distinction between the two.
The world is Satan’s place and within it exists suffering, stress, terror, fear, decay, and all manner
of deformities of life, and so forth.
However, God does not have to bring fear into your life, He can punish you with any number of rebukes, which
are intended to bring your attention back to truth, rather than toward your
distractions.
But, as for those who do not stray from truth, there
are still the defects of the world to deal with, but God will not add to those
problems, His disciplinary measures, which would certainly compound the
hardships in your life.
So, if you are dedicated to a legitimate daily
study of the Word, as defined by God (not one of your own choosing), namely
pursuing a daily study through instruction (no do it yourself stuff), if you confess
your sins regularly so as to stay in fellowship, so that your spiritual life is
functional, and doing this daily and regularly through your life, then any and
all problems entering into your life are not due to discipline, but due to the
very nature of the world.
And worldly suffering is designed to advance you in
your spiritual life, whereas discipline is designed to get you back on track when
you stray.
God will not place anything, any hardship, into
your life, unless it is to correct you in some fashion, or to help in your spiritual
growth.
What you really need to worry about is when you do
not do what is expected in your spiritual life, and nothing happens to
you.That most probably means that you
are beyond correction, because your attitude is beyond repair, and God has
simply backed out of your life, Mic. 3:4.
That is not a good thing for you, because that means severe loss in
eternity, and even perhaps severe loss later in this life.
It is far better to have God rapping you on the knuckles,
than turning His back on your life.And
it is even better to have life’s experiences, without Gods discipline on top of
it all, so that you can advance as far as possible in your spiritual life.
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