Revelation 2:20 “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols.”

This is an area of church discipline that we don’t think about very much. At the time this was written, the Canon of Scripture wasn’t yet settled, which made heresies easier to teach. I’ve heard that this is an issue in China, where, because of government oppression, the Gospel has spread much faster than the availability of Bibles. In such situations, someone can seem very “spiritual” without it being the Holy Spirit. However, the believers in Thyatira were still held responsible for tolerating such junk. They at least were operating under the Holy Spirit! This points up the dangers of Biblical illiteracy. Far too many Christians in America, even, have little idea of what is in the Bible, attributing such things as “God helps those who help themselves” to it when it’s not there, and failing to know that it does speak directly to many of the sins and excesses that are prevalent in the world today. A Bible isn’t a good luck charm, to be kept on the shelf or cof­fee table, or even in a purse, but not read. The more familiar we are with the Bible, the less likely we are to be led astray by evil spirits, even though they can seem very convincing to the ignorant.

One of the many blessings God has poured out on me was being raised in a family that read, loved, and obeyed the Bible. I was given a full Bible after I was baptized at seven, and had read it through by the time I was 10. (It was something to do while my father was preaching in Japanese!) My personal issue has never been ignorance, but rather in deceiving myself by thinking that knowing the words was enough. (James 1:22) After the Lord convicted me of spiritual pride when I was 24, I finally got into the habit of daily devotional reading, allowing the Lord to speak His Word to me each morning. Over 20 years ago now I heard Wayne Cordeiro explain his SOAP system of devotions (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) and have been following that ever since. One of the members here, a recovering alcoholic himself, once declared that I was addicted to the Bible. I couldn’t have been happier! That is precisely how I want to be, and how I want to lead others to be. I seek to be open and sensitive to the Holy Spirit, but I am very aware that there are other spirits as well, and my own flesh can be pretty noisy at times. I am very grateful for the written Word that serves as an anchor in all the storms of influence and explicit teaching that rage around me, (Ephesians 4:14) and I want to be increasingly faithful in putting it into practice.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your Word indeed. May I be faithful to keep taking it in, applying it accurately and teaching it without distortion, so that it may be fulfilled in every detail, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!