A Responsive Church in a Changing Society: Thyatira

Text: Rev. 2:18-29

Theme: The Lord of Glory has a message for the church today: The church needs to deal seriously with false prophets who attempt to seduce the people of God.

In his book, The Frog in the Kettle, George Barna warned the church over twenty years ago about the danger of gradualism. He opened the book with this illustration: “If you place a frog in a kettle of boiling water it will quickly jump out. Its senses tell it that the environment is dangerous. But place that same frog in a kettle full of room temperature water and slowly increase the temperature of the water until it is boiling, the frog will stay in the water until it boils to death. The change is so gradual that the frog does not notice until it is too late.”

This is an illustration of what has happened to American society and culture. America has changed radically in the last fifty years. Traditional values, long-held by the culture — have been undermined by the encroachment of secularism, hedonism, and materialism. Put together, all of theses “isms” have produced the paganization of American culture.

The Church has not been unaffected by these cultural and social changes. In many cases, the church has, at the least, tolerated these changes with hardly a challenge. At the worst, in some cases, the church has wholly embraced these changes. (Video - Edina Community Lutheran Church in Minneapolis).

The Church in America now finds itself in an environment that is functionally paganized and will continue in that direction unless God intervenes with a great awakening among us. The normalization and acceptance of vain philosophies, secular worldviews, old heresies, and the ongoing sexual revolution among believers will be the greatest threat to the church if we don’t stay aware of the changes and respond in an appropriate way.

George Barna writes: “Charged by Christ Himself to be agents to change the world rather than agents changed by the world, we have been mesmerized by the lures of modern culture”

This is not a new problem as we will see with the church at Thyatira.

I. THE CHARACTER OF OUR CHRIST

“ “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.” (Revelation 2:18, ESV)

1. every one of our Lord’s messages to the seven churches in Revelation begin with a self-description

a. to the church at Thyatira he bluntly identifies himself as the Son of God

1) in chapter 1 of Revelation, John describes Jesus as the Son of Man

2) that title emphasizes his incarnation as a man, and his sympathetic identification with believers as their merciful High Priest

3) the title Son of Man offers encouragement to persecuted Christians

“He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:17–18)

4) the title views Christ in His ability to sympathize with the needs, trials, and temptations of His church

5) but he so much more than the Son of Man ... he is the Son of God

a) this is the Creator, and the Sustainer, and ultimately the Judge of the universe

b. his eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass

1) his understanding is piercing and penetrating — there is nothing he doesn’t see in the life of the Christian or the life of the Church

2) his stands in perfect holiness and stands ready to trample out impurity

2. this is the Christ whom the believers of Thyatira worship and it is the Christ whom we worship

II. THE COMMENDATION OF THEIR SERVICE

1. this is a church that needs a pep-talk

a. all of us know those people who suffer from low self-esteem

b. these folks frequently feel as though their lives don’t amount to much in the grand scheme of the universe

2. churches can also suffer from low self-esteem

a. there are tens-of-thousands of small, local congregations scattered across our nation who are experiencing a "crisis in confidence"

1) they are Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran often located in small towns or rural situations

b. they frequently cannot find pastors or priests, and when they do they do not have them for very long

c. they frequently do not have the facilities or financial resources to provide the services a self-indulgent and self-seeking culture demands

1) because they do not have the resources, small congregations often find themselves unable to compete with the larger congregations and especially the mega-churches

ILLUS. According to the National Congregations Study, the median church in America runs 65 regular participants in worship on Sunday morning. That means that half the churches in America run fewer than 65 regular attenders, and half the churches in America run more than 65 regular attenders. It’s a historic low. A mere twenty-three years ago (2,000) the median church size was 137. (Unfortunately our church has followed this pattern). In America, only 34% of churches are growing. The rest are plateaued or declining.

The National Congregations Study reports that the average church in America runs 65 regular attenders on Sunday morning. However, that figure is skewed by the very largest churches — the “Megachurch”. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a Megachurch as a congregation averaging 2,000 or more on any given Sunday morning, and there are right at 1,800 of them in the U.S. And because some of these Megachurches are so large, there’s now a new term to describe those congregations that average 10,000 or more worshipers per Sunday — they’re called Gigachurches. There are 100 of them in the United States. The National Congregations Study estimates 50% of worshipers in the United States attend the largest 10% and the nation’s congregations.

2) the report concludes that many of our smaller, rural churches feel a sense of inadequacy when it comes to making a difference in their community

d. the result is a congregational low self-esteem that brings about the perception that "our church is insignificant and can't do much for the Lord"

3. the church at Thyatira may have been small, but our Lord is still aware of her situation

“ “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” (Revelation 2:19, ESV)

a. Jesus is omniscient — nothing is hidden from his sight

b. he knows the smallest detail of the smallest church in the smallest community in His kingdom

A. JESUS ACKNOWLEDGES THEIR SITUATION

1. Thyatira was the least important of the seven cities mentioned in the Book of Revelation

a. the city had no illustrious history and the city is scarcely mentioned by ancient writers

2. it was neither a political or religious center

a. it had no great temples and no important institutions of learning or healing

b. Thyatira was little more than a garrison town for Roman soldiers guarding the main highway that ran through the area

3. its only "claim to fame" were the numerous trade guilds that were head quartered in the town

a. the most important of these guilds controlled the manufacture and sale of purple cloth

4. to this small community came a significant message: “ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16, ESV)

a. how did the message arrive?

b. through the efforts of a lady named Lydia

“and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” (Acts 16:12–14, ESV)

1) I am convinced that Lydia was a charter member of the 1st Baptist Church at Thyatira

c. no community is unimportant when there is a community of believers living there

1) no church is insignificant in the eyes of the Lord

ILLUS. Jesus is just as aware of Solid Rock Baptist Church in Judge, MO and the 12 people who show up there every Sunday as he is of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, CA. and the 24,000 who show up every Sunday.

B. JESUS ACCLAIMS THEIR SERVICE

1. Thyatira was a small church in an insignificant community, but look at the things Jesus commends her for

“ “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” (Revelation 2:19, ESV)

2. as with the three previous congregations, Jesus "knows" the works and deeds of the church at Thyatira

3. Jesus commends them first for their Attitudes

a. Jesus specifically mentions their "love" and “faith”

ILLUS. Unlike at Ephesus where the congregation had "lost their first love" the believers at Thyatira had not grown cold.

b. in this church Jesus saw a warmth and glow that permeated the people

c. these believers were thoroughly persuaded that Jesus was the Son of God

d. they professed a good faith which was characterized by deep conviction

4. Jesus commends them for their Actions

a. the word translated service in vs. 19 is a form of the word slave

b. the Christians at Thyatira slavishly ministered to those around them

c. true Christian love always leads to acts of service

ILLUS. Martin Luther, the great German reformer, once wrote, "Good works do not make a man good, but a good man does good works."

5. Jesus commends them for their Additions

a. Jesus pays this church the greatest compliment any congregation can ever receive from the Lord of Glory ". . . you are now doing more than you did at first."

b. this church was growing in love and faith and ministry

c. they were becoming more gracious and helpful with the passing of the years

d. they were becoming broader in their sympathies, warmer in their hearts, and richer in their enthusiasm

e. year by year, they were working more earnestly, giving more liberally, and proclaiming the gospel with a greater fire and passion

6. could it be that these are still the virtues Christ looks for in his church today

a. is not love more important than large & luxurious edifices?

b. is not Christian service more important than the strains of a 100 voice sanctuary choir with its accompanying 60 piece orchestra?

c. is not faithfulness to the Word more important than finely finished pulpit furniture

7. any church, no matter how small the congregation, is doing great things for Christ when its members are characterized by love, faith and service

III. THE CRITICISM OF THEIR FAILURE

1. even small churches can do big things for God

2. even small churches can have big problems

a. the church at Thyatira had much to be commended for

b. but the penetrating gaze of the Lord of the church had discerned serious error

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” (Revelation 2:20, ESV)

ILLUS. It is no small matter that Jesus refers to this prophetess as Jezebel. If you remember your bible history, Jezebel is considered the most wicked, vile woman of the Bible. Calling this woman Jezebel, would be akin to calling a man in this congregation Judas. Everyone would immediately understand the gravity of this person’s presence in the church.

Jezebel was the daughter of a pagan king who married an Israelite King. His name was Ahab. Through her efforts, first the king and then the Israelite nation was turned away from the One true God and to idolatry, with it’s licentious behavior. The Jezebel of the Church at Thyatira, like the Jezebel of the Old Testament, was wicked, devious, and persuasive. And according to vs. 20 what she was teaching was devilishly untrue.

A. A FEW MEMBERS WERE WILLING TO BELIEVE HER LIES

1. prophets were highly regarded in the early church

a. in Romans 12:6 it heads the list of the gifts of the Spirit

b. we must remember that the early church did not yet have the benefit of the New Testament as we do today

c. to fill the need for trustworthy teaching, the Holy Spirit often illuminated prophets to reveal the word of God to His church

2. from within the congregation of the Thyatira church there arose a woman who claimed the gift of prophecy and special revelation from God

3. Jesus claims that she was a false prophet and her teaching misled many of the Thyatiran believers to commit acts of immorality and idol worship

a. the history of Christ’s church is inseparable from the history of Satan’s attempts to destroy her

b. while difficult challenges have arisen from outside the church, the most dangerous have always been from within

1) from within arise the false teachers, the peddlers of error who masquerade as teachers of truth

4. we are not told specifically this Jezebel’s “doctrines” are, but we do know that ...

a. she was leading Christians into immorality and idolatry

ILLUS. What we think might have been happening in this church is that this Jezebel was encouraging members of the church to join the trade guilds of Thyatira even though doing so meant giving honor to the guild god or goddess. This would have included participating in the festivals where they sacrificed food to idols and participated in sexual immorality.

b. this Jezebel wanted the church to embrace the world even if that meant fully compromising ones’ faith in Christ

5. how many followers did this false prophetess have among the Thyatiran congregation?

a. we don't know, but the indication is that it was a sizable group with significant influence

B. THE MAJORITY OF MEMBERS WERE UNWILLING TO CONFRONT THE LIE

“But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.” (Revelation 2:20, ESV)

1. the great sin of this church was that they "tolerated" this false prophetess whom our Lord calls "Jezebel"

a. tolerating her teaching was poisoning the church

1) Ephesus was strong in doctrine but lacked love

2) Thyatira was strong in love but weak in doctrine

a) they weren’t willing to disagree with anyone about doctrinal heresies

2. it’s common for churches to be polarized in one of these two extremes

a. either they will have full heads and empty hearts, or full hearts and empty minds

1) either extreme is deadly

b. God demands both Christ-like love and sound doctrine and that’s always a challenge

ILLUS. Table salt is a compound, a mixture of two elements: sodium and chloride. Both of these elements are poisonous by themselves. Sodium, is an alkaline metal and can be explosive if added to water. Chlorine is, by itself, a highly poisonous gas. If you ingest either sodium or chloride alone, you will die. But if you put them together properly, they become sodium chloride: better known as common table salt.

b. so too, doctrine and love must be found together

1) one without the other can lead to a dangerous imbalance

2) but combined they provide flavor and health to the body of Christ

2. unfortunately the church recognized the presence of a false prophet in their midst, but They refused to deal with her and her followers

a. the Jezebel at Thyatira taught falsehood with a false authority

b. she seduced the minds of the people and trained them to follow her, instead of following Him who stands in the midst of the seven golden lampstands

3. if she does not repent, judgement upon her and her "children"— probably a reference to her followers Vv. 21-23

IV. LESSONS FROM THE CHURCH AT THYATIRA

A. THE SIZE OF THE SANCTUARY DOES NOT DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CONGREGATION

1. little churches in small communities can accomplish great things when the people of that church are full of love, faith and a desire to serve

2. 85% percent of SBC churches are just like us

a. small churches in small communities most people have never heard of

b. yet they are doing important things for Christ which often go unheralded by the world

c. why? because the world does not recognize our agenda

1) love, faith and service are not virtues which make headlines

B. THE CHURCH NEEDS TO DEAL SERIOUSLY WITH FALSE PROPHETS WHO ATTEMPT TO SEDUCE THE PEOPLE OF GOD

1. false teachers take on many forms, custom-crafted to times, cultures, and contexts — let me give you five to watch out for ...

a. The Heretic — the Heretic is the most prominent and perhaps the most dangerous of the false teachers

1) Peter warned against him in his second letter

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1, ESV)

2) the Heretic is the person who teaches what blatantly contradicts an essential teaching of the Christian faith

b. The Charlatan — the Charlatan is the person who uses Christianity as a means of personal enrichment

1) in 1 Timothy 6:3-5 Paul writes that these are folks who imagine that godliness is a means of gain

c. The Prophet (self-proclaimed) — this is the man or woman who claims to be gifted by God to speak fresh revelation outside of Scripture—new, authoritative words of prediction, and teaching

1) in reality, though, he is commissioned and empowered by Satan for the purpose of misleading and disrupting Christ’s church

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1, ESV)

d. The Abuser — the Abuser uses his position of leadership to take advantage of other people

1) usually, he takes advantage of them to feed his sexual lust, though he may also desire power

“For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (Jude 4, ESV)

e. The Tickler — the Tickler is the false teacher who cares nothing for what God wants and everything for what men want

1) he is the man-pleaser rather than the God-pleaser

2) he’ll never call sin what it is ... sin

2. Satan’s greatest ambassadors are not pimps, politicians, or power-brokers, but false prophets

a. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16a)

b. how sad that these misguided persons — many of them professing Christians — have not read what the Apostle John wrote

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1, NIV)

C. THE CHURCH NEEDS TO REPENT OF ITS “TOLERANCE” OF WORLDLINESS OR RISK BECOMING IRRELEVANT TO CHRIST’S KINGDOM

ILLUS. OK, I’m not trying to pick a fight, but a congregation that recites the “Sparkle Creed” to a non-binary God is probably a church that, though the world may see them as “relevant” they’ve become irrelevant to the Kingdom of God. The Sparkle Creed is not a statement of faith that will lead anyone to faith in Christ.

1. more and more churches are embracing vain philosophies that are antithetical to the Christian faith

a. many have embraced elements of Eastern religions, secular philosophies, elements of paganism, and the sexual revolution (and all it’s perversion)

b. the result is a spiritual malnutrition among God’s people

1) the changeover from truth to error in the church at Thyatira was probably a the “frog in the kettle” situation

2) the congregation didn’t realize Scriptural truth was being compromised until it was too late

3) before they knew it, many of them were spiritually dead — boiled to death in the “kettle of tolerance”

2. every church needs members who are thoroughly grounded in Biblical orthodoxy who can serve as doctrinal and theological watchdogs of the congregation

a. we certainly need to be tolerant of people who are different than us — the gospel is for everyone, and everyone who enters this building must be smothered with love and smothered with the gospel

b. we must be equally intolerant of those who would enter our fellowship with the purpose of teaching a vain philosophy or proclaiming a false gospel

c. we need to be tolerant of the lost who need Jesus, but intolerant of the Jezebels who would deny or pervert biblical truth

Sometimes the pressure of “fitting in” with the world is overwhelming. To do so, some Christians, some Churches, and some Denominations will abandon clear biblical teaching to do so. But we are to stand firm in our faith, trusting God to provide and to take care of us. We are also to stand firm on the truth of God’s Word and not tolerate those who disregard and distort it.

God help us to resist the “Sparkle Creed” and those who would adopt it.