07. The Church In Thyatira

Revelation 2:18-29 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; 19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. 20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. 24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Thyatira was the smallest of the 7 cities and also the least is known. 

*probably founded by Alexander the Great 300 years before Christ.

*Thyatira means “Unceasing Sacrifice”.  

* located 40 miles SE of Pergamos, the capital city of that province.  

When enemies invaded, they would naturally come to Thyatira first.  While its location did not allow it to defend itself very well, its mission was to hold the enemy just long enough for Pergamos to prepare itself for battle.  As a result, Thyatira was destroyed and rebuilt many times during its history.

*Thyatira was known for its wool industry, especially for dyes produced there.  

They manufactured a very expensive purple dye that was valued by royalty and the wealthy of that era.  This .  This little creature was brought up by divers; its throat was slit open; and a single drop of this dye was obtained.  That dye, coupled with the chemical composition of the mineral water of Thyatira, made colors possible there that could not be reproduced anywhere else on earth. dye was obtained from a certain shellfish 

This industry is mentioned in the Bible.  Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira….

Thyatira was also known for its trade unions of the day.  bakers, wool worker, dyers, bronze workers, potters, all banded together to set prices, guarantee work.  To refuse to join a guild was to give up all prospects of work.  This fact will become important later on.

* Thyatira was also a center of pagan worship.  There was a temple in the city dedicated to fortune-telling, healing, pleasure, a temple for Ceasar worship and a huge temple for Zues

It was to the church operating in this city that Jesus sends this letter.  

We do not know who founded this church.  Some say It is possible that the Gospel was brought to Thyatira was by Lydia who was saved in Philippi, Acts 16:12-15.  Or, as some think, it might have been evangelized by believers from Ephesus.  

There were serious problems in the church of Thyatira and the Lord comes with a word tailored just for them and their need.

Jesus comes to this church in v18 and presents Himself in three ways.  He comes as:

– He reminds these people that He is the Savior and that He alone is worthy of worship.“The Son Of God”

2. “eyes like unto a flame of fire” – He comes as one Who sees all.  He sees the works of the hands and the motives and thoughts of the heart.  He comes seeing all. He comes, not as the meek and lowly Jesus, but with His eyes ablaze with anger over sin.

3. “feet like fine brass” – Brass, or bronze, in the Bible is symbolic of judgment.  Jesus not only comes as One able to see all; He also comes as One able to judge all.

If there is one word that describes the situation we find at Thyatira it is the word “compromise”.  

This is a church that has left its founding principles and has gone off into compromise and apostasy. 

      I.  JESUS HAS A WORD FOR THE WORKERS OF THYATIRA 

A.  Their Ministries – This active church was working in their community.

1.  Works means “deeds”. 

It speaks of them as being active in good deeds and benevolent outreach.

2. Service means “ministry”.  

The word carries the idea of “those who kick up dust”.

B.  Their Motives – 

1.  They Are Motivated By love – “agape” Love.  

It refers to an “unconditional, unceasing love that knows no boundaries and that is not influenced by the worth of the object being loved.” It is God’s kind of love.

   Godly works always arise out of a heart burning with love for God

2.  They Are Motivated By faith – Faith – 

This word refers to “faithfulness”.  These were folks that could be counted on. 

            Too many times there is work to be done around the church and no one who wants to do that work.  

     In Thyatira there was work to do and plenty of people willing to do it.  

C.  Their Maturity – Works;…  Their outreach and ministry to their fellow man was ever on the increase.

What Jesus says about the church of Thyatira should be true of our church as well.  

We should be a church that is busy for the glory of God.  

      Active in the Lord’s work; but, we should see that everything we do is motivated by either 

Edifying the Saints - Evangelizing the Sinner - Exalting the Savior.  

Those three tasks comprise the whole of our business and we should be actively engaged in them for the glory of God.

      I would just remind you that God knows our works too.  He did not save us to be lazy Christians, but to be busy doing Kingdom work, 

 II.  JESUS HAS A WORD FOR THE WICKED OF THYATIRA

While this church appeared to be everything a church ought to be on the surface, at its heart there was problems. 

A.  They Had A Wicked Teacher – teachings of an influential woman in their congregation was leading away the congregation.  Jesus exposes her, her teachings and her judgment in these verses.

  This woman is called “Jezebel”.  Jezebel is one of the most infamous women in the entire Bible.

      Jezebel was the wife of king Ahab, 1 Kings 16:31.  

She was a devoted worshiper of  Baal and she kept up some 850 prophets of Baal

Baal was a fertility god and his prophets and priests were no more than temple prostitutes.  Baal was worshiped through vile sexual acts and gross wickedness.

      When Jezebel came to Israel, she brought her perverted religion with her.  

She led her husband to follow her gods and thus influenced Israel to seek Baal instead of Jehovah.  

She even did her best to kill every true man of God she could get her hands on.  

She threatened old Elijah one time and he ran away in fear.

            Ahab’s desired Naboth’s vineyard. Jezebel arranged for the murder of Naboth so that Ahab could have the vineyard.  This act prompted Elijah to pronounce God’s sentence upon Ahab and Jezebel, 1 Kings 21:17-24.  He told Ahab that Jezebel would be eaten by the dogs.  

This was literally fulfilled years later when Jehu commanded Jezebel’s servants to throw her down from a second floor window.  They did and Jehu drove his chariot over her body.  He went into the house, had a meal and commanded the servants to bury her.  When they went out to retrieve her body, all that was left was her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands.  The dogs had eaten the rest, 2 Kings 9:1-37.

Jezebel came to be identified with wickedness and idol worship.

1.  Her Sin in v20 – This self-described prophetess, whoever she was, was guilty of leading the people away from the true worship of God.  No one is quite sure what was actually going on, but here is my theory.

Whatever it was, she was leading the people of God astray.  “seduce” means “to lead out of the right path”.  She was leading them into immorality.  

“fornication” refers to “to any sexual sin”.  

Regardless of what they were doing, the Lord calls it “the depths of Satan”in v24.

2. Her Stubbornness in v21 – The Lord had given her and hers time to turn from their sins, but they refused to do so.  God’s patience has run out…judgment’s coming

3. Her Sentence in v22-23 –  “cast…her into great tribulation”, He is telling us that these people are not saved.  But, notice the grace in His judgment: He is still giving them space to repent!  If they refuse, they will be judged “according to your works”.  

Salvation is always based on God’s grace;

 judgment comes based on man’s works. 

B.  They was Wicked in their Tolerance – Jesus expresses displeasure with this church because they allowed this woman to be in a position of leadership and because they tolerated the lies she was teaching for truth.  The word “sufferest” means “to tolerate, to permit, to allow”.  

C. It Gave Them A Wicked Testimony – “and all the churches shall know”  The Lord tells this church that He would use them as an example to teach other churches what happens when truth is compromised.  

The church in Thyatira had been established to bring the word of God to a pagan city.  They had functioned well for a while; then they had abandoned the right path.  They are going to pay a heavy price for their sin.

III. JESUS HAS A WORD FOR THE WORSHIPERS OF THYATIRA

Not everyone in Thyatira had walked away from the Lord.  Even in that tolerant, compromising, sinful church there was a faithful remnant.  

A.  “hold fast till I come” – God wants us to stay the course for God.  Just because everyone is taking a new path doesn’t mean we have to.  

B. v26 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron” – Jesus promises them that if they will remain faithful to Him, they will rule with Him when He comes in His kingdom.  

If you are going to be a holy, godly Christian in these days, you might as well get ready to be hated, misunderstood and persecuted.  

But, One day, the King is coming!  When He does, He is going to let His faithful servants reign with Him.  

C. v28 – Jesus promises “the morning star” - 

*** biblical scholars debate what He is talking about here.  

1st view - He is promising them Himself. After all, He is the “bright and morning star”, Rev. 22:16.  

2nd view - He is talking about the Rapture.  

3rd view, when the night grows the darkest, the morning star, or the planet Venus, becomes visible.  

When that Star appears you know that daybreak is not far behind.  I think the Lord is telling these folks to just hold on for a little while longer.  He seems to be saying, “It’s mighty dark now, but there is a glimmer of hope in the heavens.  Hang on; I’m coming to get you!”

            This dark night we are in right now will not last forever.  The Lord is coming!  

The signs are visible all around us.  

Symbolically, the morning star has appeared, and it signals the approach of a new day.  He is coming and we are going!  So, hang on a just little longer!