7 Churches - Thyatira

Welcome: More Prophetic Stuff

Hey everyone! Welcome to Prairie Lakes Church and to week 4 of our “7 Churches” series where…

We’ve been walking through the first few chapters of the last book in the Bible, Revelation, where Jesus dictates 7 personalized letters to 7 respective church communities.

So:

I’ve got some good news… and I’ve got some bad news.

And even though it might be contrary to popular opinion, I’m gonna give you the good news first.

Here’s the good news:

We’re week 4 of 7—meaning we’re more than halfway through. We’re over the hump. We’re on the down-slope. That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad news:

Our letter this week is to the church in Thyatira. It’s the longest of the 7 letters—and is probably both the most confusing and severe in its tone.

(Yay!)

So even though we’re on the momentum-building side of this series, this weekend might feel like we’re getting stuck.

If you were around or heard the message from last weekend as we worked through the letter to Pergamum, you know that I wrestled with that one. I mean, we talked politics and sex in the same message—because that’s what that letter was all about.

By the way:

I’m so grateful that so many of you were so gracious in your encouragement and affirmation of me after that. I know that was a tough one for you to hear—and I’m sure that not everyone received it in the same way. But many of you made it a point to encourage me after that, and I’m grateful.

But I’ll be honest with you:

As I went to write the message this week after diving into this letter to Thyatira, here’s what I was (and am) feeling:

“Man. I’m ready for something different.”

Being a prophet and having to preach in a prophetic voice for 7 weeks… it’s not great.

It’s not very fun.

It’s hard, careful work.

And I’m saying that to you not because I want your sympathy or admiration. I’m saying that to you for a couple of reasons.

First:

You might be feeling the same thing. You might be ready for something different. So I’m hoping you know: I see you. I get it. And me too.

But second:

Some of what you’re feeling right now might be exactly what Jesus intended.

The Letter to Thyatira

So here’s what we’re gonna do together. We’re gonna start by reading this letter to Thyatira in its entirety.

So go ahead, grab your Bibles, and open up to Revelation 2:18-29.

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Revelation 2:18-29

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After we read it together, like we do every week, we’ll unpack what’s going on in this city so that we better understand why Jesus said what he said to them.

But I’d like to start by reading his letter in its entirety first. And as we do, what I’m gonna ask you to do is this:

Take stock of how you’re feeling. What did you feel as you read this letter?

Did you feel confused? Offended?

Did you feel uncomfortable? Curious? Lost?

Maybe it’s going to be a mix of things. But whatever it’s like for you, see if you can take some mental notes of how you’re feeling as you read it. Because we’re gonna interact with those.

Ok. Let’s read together. Verse 18:

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Revelation 2:18–19 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.”

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Revelation 2:20–21 “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.”

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Revelation 2:22–23 “So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

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Revelation 2:24–25 “Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”

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Revelation 2:26–29 “To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

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Ok. There it is.

How Are You Feeling?

If you were keeping score, we opened up with some imagery of eyes like burning fire and feet like burnished bronze.

Then we moved into something a little more normal, albeit in short supply in these letters: some encouragement. Your love and faith are growing, as are your service and perseverance. Good job.

But then…

Jezebel.

Sexual immorality and food being sacrificed to idols.

A bed of suffering and killing kids.

Vengeance.

Satan’s deep secrets.

But then…

Victory… but it looks like authority over nations/ruling with an iron scepter that dashes them to pieces like pottery.

And a morning star.

So:

How did all of that make you feel?

We have a teaching team here at Prairie Lakes. There are (3) of us who preach on Sundays. I think it’s a super healthy thing for both us as teaching pastors and for the church to have more than just (1) voice.

And because we have (3) of us, it’s not all that often that (1) of us preaches (2) weekends in a row. But I’m the guy now that does that occasionally. And this is one of those times. I preached last weekend, and now this one.

And so by the time I got last week’s message all written and… birthed, I hadn’t done a lot of prep for this one until this week. Until Monday.

And I had forgotten what the content and tone was for this letter. But after last week, I was kinda hoping for something a little…

Lighter.

And so when I read it this week, even though I have read it before, I felt…

Deflated.

Tired.

Uncomfortable.

And confused.

Now, some study and prayer have helped me immensely with all of that. And I hope they’ll help you, too.

But I think it’s important for us to kinda take stock of how we’re feeling right now.

Because some of those kinds of feelings—some of that is how Jesus wanted his church to feel.

The Context of Thyatira

And let me explain what I mean by that by sharing a bit more about this city with you:

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Show 7 Churches Map

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(Point out where Thyatira is.)

Now, just for scale, I thought it’d be cool for you to see these cities if they were placed in our state. Here’s that comparison:

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Show Iowa - 7 Churches Map

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All seven of those churches would fit inside our state—just barely. But they would.

And so here we are at Prairie Lakes with 7 different campuses in Iowa. If you traveled to each of them, you’d find a lot that is really similar—but also some things that are distinct or unique since they are in the same region but different communities.

True for Thyatira as well. It’s the 4th church community we’ve read about—and they’ve got some of the same encouragements and same problems as some of the others. But there’s also some uniqueness to them.

Here’s what you need to know:

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Thyatira (thigh-uh-TIE-ruh):

Least known, least important, least remarkable of the seven cities

Originally a “fort” (military outpost but with no natural fortifications)

Became really “blue collar” - manufacturing and trades (Lydia, Acts 16)

You had to become a member of a trade guild (a pagan “union”) to work

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It’s an imperfect analogy—but think like a combination of the Masonic Temple and the UAW. You’ve got this club where you do these religious rituals but it’s mostly just for networking—but you’ve also got a union that controls a lot of the manufacturing or trades jobs.

That’s what it was like in Thyatira—only more brazenly pagan and sexually immoral.

You not only had to be a member, but a member in good standing, so to speak—and you did that by participating in all of the things they did at these gatherings.

And like we saw last week: that involved sexually immoral activity and sacrifices to whatever god would bless your work. Only then could you get a licence to practice your trade and provide for your family.

Which gets us to some of the more difficult things that Jesus says to his church there.

But, like a lot difficult things in these letters and the book of Revelation as a whole, it’s mostly symbolic.

Let’s unpack some of these symbols so that you can get a handle on what was going on

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Thyatira (thigh-uh-TIE-ruh):

Jezebel: An Old Testament figure who led Israel’s king, Ahab, to worship pagan gods

“Jezebel” in Thyatira: An unnamed woman (likely known by the readers) who is sanctioning the same kinds of behavior in the church

Bed, Adultery, Suffering: Literal and metaphorical consequences for their unrepentant immorality

Children: People who were following Thyatira’s “Jezebel” like she was their spiritual mother

Satan’s deep secrets: intentionally living immorally to test the boundaries of grace

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In other words:

Jesus was saying that there would be immediate, noticeable, and even physical consequences to this kind of disobedience. Don’t listen to what this Jezebel-inspired woman is telling you; this is not ok. And you can see it for yourself.

When we first read this letter, I asked you how it made you feel.

If you felt confused, I hope we’ve been able to help with that.

But if you felt uncomfortable or uneasy…

I probably didn’t.

Because maybe…

Maybe that’s exactly how Jesus wants you to feel.

Killer Compromise

Last week when we looked at his letter to Pergamum, we used this phrase to describe what was going on:

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Sanctioned Compromises

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Sanctioned compromises. And here’s how we defined that:

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Sanctioned Compromises

When God’s people live contrary to what God said but convince themselves that God is ok with it.

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That’s essentially what this woman in Thyatira was trying to do: she was trying to convince her church friends that a little sex and some silly sacrifices just weren’t that big of a big deal—especially if it allowed you to put food on your table, or gave you something to do with friends, or granted access to a network that opened the door to opportunities you wouldn’t have otherwise.

I mean, do you really want to be a goody two-shoes (to use a term from the 1920’s) if it means that you’ll basically always be on the outside looking in… poor… some loser that apparently thinks he or she is just better than everyone else? Does it sound like that’s a good trade?

But Jesus responds so sharply to this with a jagged little reality pill:

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Sanctioned Compromises

When God’s people live contrary to what God said but convince themselves that God is ok with it.

But some compromises will kill you.

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This isn’t just a page out of some ancient pagan playbook. It might look differently today—but it’s pretty much the same play:

Maybe you get into a career or you work on a team or you have a boss that is kinda into some things that you know aren’t good.

You know they’re gonna just drink themselves silly on that work trip or networking event.

You know what happens at the work party—or what happens after.

Or on the softball team. Or at the happy hour spot. You know.

And although Jesus’ warning here sounds extreme, if you continue down those paths for the sake of your status or your career trajectory or your need to be liked or to belong,

At the very least, it’s an integrity killer. At the very least.

And it might be a marriage-killer.

And it could be a faith-killer.

Which would be a life-killer.

And almost every time when you start down that path, it’s presented to you as though it’s “not a big deal.”

And that’s only affirmed by literally everyone who is on that same path. Not a big deal.

Until you get below the surface in some of these people’s lives who have been on that path for a long time—

And despite some material success, you see a trail of broken relationships and marriages and addictive and destructive habits that have led them into some very dark places that sometimes…

Sometimes

You don’t come out of.

It might sound silly—but a buddy of mine who lives out of state sent me an instagram reel of a guy who’s got a pretty influential platform. You’d probably recognize him.

But he was speaking at an event. And what he was saying was that cigars actually aren’t dangerous at all.

Now: my buddy loves cigars. Huge connoisseur. And it’s something that we’ll even enjoy together when we get the chance to hang out. And so I don’t know if he sent it to me as a joke, or if he wants to convince himself that cigars aren’t really giant cancer sticks.

But either way:

The guy in the reel absolutely believed that there were only 1 or 2 studies out there that kinda showed that cigars caused cancer—and even those were pretty suspect.

Now, I want to believe that’s true. Because on the rare occasion that I do smoke them, I enjoy them.

But the reality is this:

If I smoked one of those a day, or even 1 a week—my chances for those things to kill me go way up.

That’s the truth. I might not like it. But whether I like it or not has no bearing on whether it’s true or not.

And if I were to pass on that story or share that reel with others as though it were true,

What I’d really be doing is inviting people to believe that something that could kill them is… perfectly fine—

When it is exactly the opposite.

If you read Jesus’ letter here and felt uncomfortable, I get it.

But if what Jesus says here is true—

That sometimes, the compromises that everyone else tells you are ok could literally cost you everything—

Then Jesus not only has every right to be sharp and direct…

He has the obligation. The responsibility. Like a parent who sees that their kid is doing something that will absolutely put themselves in mortal danger…

How good of a parent would I be if I let my kids play in the middle of an interstate?

If I saw that they were doing something that could get them killed, you’d better believe that the volume and tone of my voice would be just about the scariest thing they’d ever hear ever in their whole lives.

You’re doggone right that I’d want them to be scared. Because better scared than dead.

And that’s Jesus’ voice here. Sharp. Severe. Direct.

But it’s because he loves you. And he knows where this path leads if you don’t turn back.

Faith Line Set Up

If it’s felt like I’m kinda reading your mail—

If you’re someone who maybe for the first time is starting to see clearly the path that you’ve been on and where it’s really leading you—

Or if you’ve known for awhile, but you haven’t turned back. You haven’t heeded Jesus’ warnings. Maybe he spoke to you through your own conscience, or a trusted friend, or a reminder from how your parents or grandparents raised you, or from his Word—

Maybe he’s spoken to you over the years, even, but you’ve kept on walking away anyway.

And maybe you’ve even suffered some of those consequences already. Maybe you’ve developed the addiction. Or maybe you’ve screwed up the marriage. Or maybe you’ve lost your integrity.

If that’s you, I have two things for you:

First:

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Jesus allows you to feel the consequences of your sin not to punish you but to redirect you.

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You might suffer intensely like Jesus says in verse 23—until you repent. Until you turn around.

And so:

If you look around and feel like you’ve gotten yourself into all kinds of trouble and you’ll never get out of it, you’re misreading your trouble. You’re not hopeless. You’re life isn’t beyond repair. No matter how screwed up you’ve made it.

Because:

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Jesus allows you to feel the consequences of your sin not to punish you but to redirect you.

Jesus took the ultimate consequence of your sin upon himself—so that you can return to him.

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Jesus was killed so that your compromises don’t have to kill you.

He died so that all of the ways that you’ve invited death into your story don’t become the end of your story.

There is nothing so consequential in your life that the cross can’t cover. Didn’t cover.

Jesus paid it all.

You might have screwed it up so bad that you’ll never be able to fix it. I’ll buy that.

But there’s nothing that Jesus can’t fix. There’s nothing he can’t take from you. There’s nothing he can’t forgive. There’s nothing he can’t heal.

He saw everything you’d ever do before you were ever born. He knew exactly what he was getting into when he climbed up onto that cross. When he was on the cross, you were on his mind.

His voice is sharp because the thorns and the nails were sharp. But he bled so that you don’t have to.

You can turn around because he’s already made a way.

Today could be the day. Today could be your day.