Study of Revelation and End times wk 10

Letter to Church at Thyatira wk 10

Last week we looked at the church at Pergamum and seen that they had stood strong in the face of persecution, but they had allowed some to come into the church that was practicing and worshiping pagan gods.

Jesus told them that they must take care of that or He would, we have to be careful because those people that are being deceived by Satan can slip in undetected and unnoticed and slowly start to cause havoc, and before we know it they have taken over.

They are being used by satan and will begin to deceive others and before we know it satan has taken over the minds of many, and can cause the down fall of the entire church, Jesus says, do not allow this to happen.

Tonight, we are looking at the church at Thyatira, which is also called the corrupt church by many.

I. Destination

Revelation 2:18 NASB95

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:

Thyatira was the least important and smallest city of the seven and yet has the longest letter of the group.

Thyatira was a military town as well as a commercial center with many trade unions.

Wherever these unions were found, idolatry and immorality - the two great enemies of the early church - were almost always present too.

The city boasted a special temple to Apollo, the sun god, which explains why the Lord introduced Himself as the Son of God, which is the only time in Revelation this title is used.

Thyatira was located 40 miles southeast of Pergamum, and t was situated in an area noted for its abundant crops and the manufacture of purple dye.

Jesus not only introduced Himself as the Son of God, but also with eyes like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnishing bronze.

The reference to Jesus’ eyes being like blazing fire and the brilliant reflections of his feet emphasize the indignation and righteous judgment of Jesus Christ.

II. Commendation

Revelation 2:19 NASB95

19 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.

Here we have the commendation or the approval, what Jesus has found good about the church, as we see it is short and to the point, with this being the longest letter to the smallest of the churches, the commendation, is short.

Like the others, Jesus states I know your works - your love, faithfulness, service and perseverance.

The first two describe the motivation behind their conduct while the other two describe the results of their conduct.

The believers there in Thyatira were working out of love and faithfulness to God, and it came through service and with perseverance.

Jesus had told the believers at Ephesus they needed to return to their first love, they needed to regain the passion they had when they first got saved, but here He tells the believers here at Thyatira that their works are greater than the first.

Their passion for Jesus has actually grown instead of weakened, Jesus is commending the believers for this, He is telling them good job in this.

This is what we are actually supposed to do, we are to grow in our walk with Jesus, in our passion to serve and love Jesus, to share our faith with others, and not grow cold but grow hotter and hotter in our love and passion for Jesus.

The problem is we get saved, we get into church, and we start to get comfortable in the church and we start to think what can the church do for me, what can God do more for me, what is it that God can provide more for me.

When it should be we get saved, our passion should continue to grow, we should get involved in the church, we should start to see needs that are in the church and begin to ask how can we help fulfill those needs, how can we serve in the church, how can we help others grow closer to God, how can we grow closer to God, how can we better serve God, how can we reach the lost, how can we reach the world, not how can we be served.

Jesus gave them a good commendation, but then he turns to the problems, to the rebuke.

III. Rebuke

Revelation 2:20–23 NASB95

20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22 ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Jesus now says, I have this against you: at least He gave them the things He was happy with first even though it was short and to the point, but now here comes the not so good part.

He says, you tolerate the woman Jezebel.

The name Jezebel comes from queen Jezebel which is found in 1 Kings chapters 16-19 and she had enticed the Israelites to add Baal worship to their religious ceremonies.

It is not likely that there was an actual woman called Jezebel there in Thyatira but that Jesus was using the title as symbolic, but the point is this person was a false prophetess and was negatively influencing the people and leading them into compromise.

The seducing teaching of Jezebel here was similar to the doctrine of Balaam that the Lord condemned in the church of Pergamum.

Jezebel taught believers how to compromise with the Roman religion and the practices of the trade unions, so that the Christians would not lose their jobs or their lives.

On one hand the believers were growing in their love and passion for God, but on the other hand, they were tolerating the evil practices of Jezebel and pagan practices.

And no amount of loving and sacrificial works can compensate for tolerance of evil.

Not only was the church at Thyatira tolerant of evil, but it was proud and unwilling to repent.

The Lord gave the false prophetess time to repent, yet she refused.

Now He was giving her followers opportunity to repent.

His eyes of fire had searched out their thoughts and motives, and He would make no mistake.

The Lord threatens to use this church as a solemn example to all the churches not to tolerate evil.

Jezebel and her followers would be sentenced to tribulation and death!

Idolatry and compromise are in the Bible pictured as fornication and unfaithfulness to the marriage vows.

Jezebel’s bed of sin would become a bed of sickness!

God would judge the false prophetess and her followers once and for all.

IV. Exhortation

Revelation 2:24–25 NASB95

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. 25 ‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.

Even though there was a group that had fallen for Jezebel’s deceiving and started to follow her, there was also a group that had not fallen for her deceiving and was not following her.

This group was as Jesus calls them in verse 24, the rest of you in Thyatira, the group that was not following Jezebel, but they had tolerated the teachings of Jezebel.

This may have been the smaller group of the church, and therefore, they were not able to stop Jezebel and here teachings, but whatever the case they did not become followers of Jezebel.

As Jesus states there, who do not hold this teaching, that is they have not followed, they have not listened to Jezebel.

He also says, who haven’t know the so-called secrets of satan, that referring to the teachings of Jezebel, the cultic teachings, in a sense this was a sarcastic statement, as the cults claimed to know the deep things of God which in reality were just the deep things of satan.

As a false prophet, Jezebel’s teachings are satanic at the core, and her followers are steeped in the ideas of the evil one.

Jesus wants to encourage the group that has not fallen for these false teachings.

Therefore, because this group had not followed after these false teachings, Jesus says to them, I am not putting any other burden on you.

Another words this group is doing a great job of keeping their eyes on Jesus, and not falling for the lies and deception of satan, therefore, Jesus says, you are doing good with that, no need to put more on you, satan is putting you through enough.

Jesus tells the believers to hold onto what you have until I come, satan is giving you a run for it, so hang on tight, and keep your eyes on me, until I come.

To hold on means to keep a firm grip on the truth as well as on the Christian way of life that is the out working of truth.

This is dealing with right doctrine and right practice.

We are to do this until the return of Christ, believers must both teach the truths of God and oppose those who fail to do so.

V. Promise

Revelation 2:26–29 NASB95

26 ‘He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

In this letter, we are given the three things just like the other letters, Let the one who has ears to hear, what the Spirit says to the churches, to the one who conquers, just this time they are spread out.

We are first given the last one first, to the one who conquers: Jesus tells them, who keeps my works to the end:

In order to be a conquer they must keep the works of Jesus to the end, and if they do then Jesus will give them authority over the nations.

The reward for obeying Jesus and holding strong to his works, is to have authority over the nations a reference to the thousand-year reign of Jesus following His second coming.

During that time, believers who exhibit purity in this life will help the Lord rule the world.

That millennial reign, though is merely a down payment on eternity.

The word rule in verse 27 there means to shepherd, indicating that they will not simply be administering justice but will also, like a shepherd using his rod, be dealing with his sheep and protecting them as well.

Verse 27 comes from Psalm 2:9

Psalm 2:9 NASB95

9 ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”

Here in our text it refers to Christ’s rule, and believers will have authority just as Christ does.

Christ received His authority from His Father.

A second promise the believers are given if they are conquers and stay strong, and hold a firm grip to the works of Christ, is that they will receive the morning star.

This promise suggest that God’s people shall be so closely identified with Christ that He will belong to them.

The reward of a pure life is a greater experience of Jesus during His millennial reign and for eternity.

Naturally, a co-ruler of the universe will have greater access to the King than a common citizen.

Verse 29 closes with the last two parts to the letters that we are familiar with, let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

We need to pay close attention to what the Spirit has to say in these letters, even though they were written two thousand years ago, they are still relevant today.

A couple of things that we can see from these letters so far, is that God demands that His people, the bodies of believers exemplify two characteristics to be a truly biblical church:

First, a deep, abiding love in the relationship in the church, which in that creates unity.

Second, a deep commitment to biblical and doctrinal truth, hold firm to the Word of God.

Failure to exemplify either one will bring divine displeasure down upon the church.

However, when both are at the heart of a church, it is already successful, whatever its size and influence, for then it pleases God deeply.

A truly biblical church will be faithful to Christ both in terms of love among the brothers and sisters in the congregation and in terms of adherence to biblically taught Christian doctrines.

For God to be pleased with our churches, they must be equally strong in both areas.