The Church of Thyatira

Introduction

How are we doing? Glad to see everyone. I miss seeing them on Wednesday nights for service. Everyone awake this morning?

Turn to the person to your left and say you need to wake up. Now turn to the person on your right and say, no you.

Go ahead and open your Bibles to Revelation 2:18. Today we’re going to continue going over the seven churches that Jesus addresses at the beginning of the revelation He is giving to John.

I want to make today a little different than usual. In the past, we give you guys a lesson that’s more like a sermon, but today I want to study this text with you all

So we’ll talk about the text and what it means for the majority of our time this morning and then at then end we’ll talk together about application. We understand that? We cool wit it?

Text Intro

Last week, Mitch spoke with you guys on the church of Pergamum, and he did a fantastic job as usual breaking down some of those hard to understand things.

I know Revelation has a lot of things in it that are hard to understand, but like Mitch said last week, we need to have an understanding of all of scripture and let it interpret itself.

That’s actually a very big concept for those of us learning to study the Bible. When trying to understand a difficult text, it’s important that you study related passages, and Revelation definitely has a lot of that.

But last week, we talked about Pergamum, and now this week we’re going to look at the next church Jesus addresses, the church of Thyatira.

And as we read these messages, you guys will notice that Jesus is very firm with His rebukes of the churches He’s addressing. He’s very stern with them in keeping themselves holy and untouched by the world.

This sounds kind of scary and aggressive but don’t let that distract you from the overall message of these letters, that being, encouragement towards eternity with Him. It’s very easy for us to get caught up in the world and things that are going to pass away, but Jesus’ overall message is that He’s better.

For some of these churches, things may get worse, but one thing they all have in common (and we have in common with them) is that it will get better. The worst thing that can happen to a Christian is only death. And death is only just a doorway to an eternity that we already have.

By the way, eternity doesn’t start when you die. It started when you gave your life to Jesus.

So if you have your bibles out and you’re turned to Revelation 2:18, let me hear you say, “Les do dis.”

Text- Revelation 2:18-29

Revelation 2:18–29 ESV

“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. “ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 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. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Pray

Text Explanation

Jesus’ Symbolism

Let’s talk about our text today:

So we have Jesus addressing one of His churches in Asia Minor, giving them some final notes on how they are doing, and He’s telling these things to John who is writing these things down. Don’t forget that John was best friends with Jesus before seeing Him in His full glory which is really cool. Just a random thought.

Whenever we read Jesus’ letters to these 7 churches, John always gives us a metaphor on Jesus’ revealed glory. So here, he says that the Son of God has “eyes like a flame of fire.”

This is more than likely related to what Jesus says later in this passage in verse 23 when He says, “all the churches will know that I am He who searches mind and heart.”

He’s saying that He can see what’s in a person’s heart and what they think about. He understands our intentions, our fears, our desires, and what we fix our minds most on.

Then it says that His feet are like burnished bronze, and I had to do a little research on what John means by this. John is referring to the incredible power that Jesus holds. Remember when He created the world with only His words? Yeah, that kind of power.

But I think there’s a reason these descriptions are included in this book. It’s to remind the reader of the incredible God that they serve because many of the Christians at this time have been persecuted for their faith.

For a few of the churches Jesus is straight up with them. “Some of you may die for my sake, but it’s all good because I have eyes like fire, and feet like bronze.”

He’s like, “I see what’s going on whether those persecuting you see it or not but they will receive their judgment.”

But Jesus addresses His church at Thyatira, and the first thing He says is “I see you.”

Transition: He says, “I see your works, I see your love for one another, your faith and service, but I’ve got one thing for ya.”

You’ve got a cancer among you.

The “Jezebel”

He says, you have a “Jezebel” woman among you.

He presents the charges against her like in a court.

He says she presents herself as a prophetess, she teaches sinful things, she makes people do things that betrays their consciences (which we know from 1 Corinthians, that Paul instructs the Corinthians not to do anything that betrays their conscience), and God has given her time to repent but she doesn’t.

And Jesus is tired of it all, and He is prepared to make an example out of her.

But before we dig into that, let’s dig into the whole “Jezebel” thing because that’s pretty harsh.

Now, when I said scripture interprets itself, this is one of those times.

Do you all remember somewhere else in scripture someone named Jezebel?

Jezebel was the queen that opposed the prophet Elijah. You guys remember when Jezebel did the competition against the priests with the altars where Elijah said, “ok, if your god is real then let him set this altar on fire.” And nothing happens even after the priests do all the offerings and cut themselves and stuff. But then Elijah says, “throw multiple buckets of water on my God’s altar. Soak that thang!” Then God sends a massive fire on the altar.

Yeah, those priests were Jezebel’s and she was leading God’s people to worship a false, evil god named Baal.

So what do you think that has to do with this text? Someone help me think here… You guys ever play connect the dots? You get to do that in scripture too. Connect the dots for me here.

Connecting the Dots: This woman that Jesus calls Jezebel is doing things that are very similar to the woman Jezebel in the Old Testament. She’s leading God’s people away from Him and leading them into doing horribly wicked things that God hates.

But you know what this woman is doing that’s worse than Jezebel? She’s doing in God’s name. She’s claiming to be a prophetess of God, meaning she speaks on God’s behalf and she claims that what she teaches comes from God.

So what does Jesus say He’ll do to this woman? Someone read verses 22-23 for me.

I’ve got some rednecks in my family, so they have a lot of goofy sayings that they say. Here, they would say that “Jesus ain’t playing no reindeer games with this chick.”

Transition: He will do this to show the other churches that He means business with false teachings and with protecting His church.

An Example

Do you guys know what I mean when I say Jesus will make an example out of her?

Have you guys ever been made an example out of in a good way?

It’s always a great feeling when you’re doing something in class and the teacher comes up and goes, “hey can I see this for a second? I want to show the class something.” And she uses your work to show everybody how to do something right.

You’re like heh, suckersssss, I’m better than you all because I’m doing it right.

Have you ever been made an example of in a bad way? Like when your teacher uses your work to show what not to do?

Yeah, this woman is an example of what not to do. He’s like don’t do this because this leads people away from me. This betraying of conscience is evil. This sexual immorality is evil. Don’t do this.

And Jesus gives her a punishment as fitting as the real Jezebel who fell out of a tower and die and the dogs ate her body.

A commentary I was reading when preparing for this morning’s lesson said something I thought was crazy about her punishment. A Theologian named Kendell Easley wrote:

Revelation D. Message to Thyatira: Be Morally Pure (2:18–29)

How fitting that the one who was making the body of Christ in Thyatira sick spiritually should be struck down in her own body.

Now that’s eye for an eye.

And on top of all that, the Lord gave her time to repent, meaning He probably showed her that what she was doing is wrong. He wants her to turn from it, repent from it, and do what’s right.

Jesus gave her a chance to repent which I think implies a love for this person, don’t you think? He wants her to come back to Him but she won’t turn from this stuff, so He has to remove her from His Church and punish her to be made an example.

Transition: Let’s move on to the rest of the text though because there’s more here and we only have so much time together.

Everybody Else in the Church

Jesus refers to the rest of the church who has not given into these teachings.

He says in verses 24 and 25,

English Standard Version Chapter 2

But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.

He shifts from calling out a wicked person in their midst to encouraging them again.

He urges them to keep what they have and keep pressing on towards eternity.

Have any of you ever had to help your dad do something around the house like holding a flashlight so he can see something or holding up a board so he can drive a screw into it?

My dad always says “hold what ya got!”

That’s like what Jesus is saying, “Hold what ya got, Thyatira! You’re in the right spot. Just hang in their until my return.”

And then He shifts to talk about the incredible reward for those who endure to the end of this life, clinging to Jesus and make it to eternity.

While we don’t understand the entirety of this reward He explains here in verses 26- 28, we may be able to assume that it’s a reward we will acquire in Heaven. That there may be some kind of authority Jesus will give us in Heaven under His authority.

But something I can tell you I do understand is that in Heaven, we will for sure get Jesus.

In verse 28, He says, “And I will give him the morning star.” And again, remember that we use scripture to interpret scripture. Later in this book in chapter 22 in verse 16, Jesus is clearly referred to as the Morning Star.

So if we endure to the end, we get Jesus- the feature of our faith, the Lord of the Universe, the embodiment of wisdom, and so many other things.

Punch

So we can study these texts, but what do they matter if we don’t practice them? James says that the one who looks at the Word and doesn’t keep it it is like someone who looks at his reflection and walks away unchanged. How can we be changed by today’s text?

Really we can boil this all down to keeping the main thing the main thing. What’s the main thing? Jesus, plain and simple.

Don’t add anything to scripture, don’t make the Gospel about you (It’s about Him), and keep Jesus the center of the Church.

Let’s ask ourselves what does this say about God?

It shows that Jesus is merciful and patient especially with those who love Him, but He will not suffer His Church to be led astray. He’s protective over His Church, and even at some point, Jesus has to say enough is enough things have to change.

Then His judgment is perfect. It sounds rough what this Jezebel woman was about to endure, but Jesus is the perfect judge and is worthy to give such punishments.

This also shows us that God knows all things, sees all’s hearts, knows all’s minds, and He is all powerful. So when you are suffering, Jesus sees that.

Jesus gives opportunity to repent, so repent and cling to Him.