Jesus desires a pure church

Introduction

Jesus desires a pure church.

The church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the word: from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride; with his own blood he bought her and for her life he died.

Titus 2:14 “14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

The Lord Jesus wants a church made up of individuals who are growing in grace, and desiring holiness and obedience.

The church at Thyatira was purchased by Christ and was called to be holy even though it lived in a place where this was very difficult.

Thyatira was a city well known for its commerce. It has many trade guilds. One in particular was the guild for bronze armor. If you wanted to work in the trade you had to be part of the guild. Often the guilds were linked to a patron deity, a pagan god. This meant they would hold feasts, sacrifices, rituals in honour to the patron deity. This was a problem for Christians. If you were not part of the guilt you couldn’t make a living in that trade, but if you were you had to participate in pagan practices.

As it is in each of the letters after Jesus addresses the church he then gives a description of Himself. The description he gives is taken from description in Chapter 1.

In v.18 He refers to himself as The Son of God. This was probably intended to be a contrast with the local guild deity Apollo Tyrimnaeus who was called a son of the pagan god Zeus. He would have been a familiar name to all in Thyatira. Perhaps Jesus is making the point he is the Eternal Son of the Living God. He is the one who holds all authority, no a ficitonal deity like Apollo.

Jesus also refers to himself as he who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass

This description is probably intended to communicate his omniscience. He sees everything, and he knows the thoughts and the intents of the heart. There is nothing hid from his sight. He will judge the secrets of men.

The feet like fine brass is probably a reference of his the fact that he will swiftly judge evil and trample down his enemies, in other words a picture of his justice.

This description is supposed to communicated the holiness and perfect justice of Jesus. He sees everything and he will swiftly judge sin. This is important as we shall see in a moment here was a church that probably thought Jesus didn’t see their sin and that it wasn’t a big deal any how.

The message in this letter is very similar to the one which went before. But if we were to sum it up it would be- Jesus desires a pure church.

Here we have a letter from the Lord Jesus to a church that has lost its way. We see what he says in order to call it back to purity. Three points;

Jesus commends good works, Jesus calls out sin, Jesus encourages the faithful.

I. Jesus commends good works v.18-19

a) They are working out their salvation

In calling the church at Thyatira back to purity he encourages and commends them for the good that they have. We see the tender care of Jesus by the fact that he begins with good things to say.

v.19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience...”

The Lord Jesus commends them for their good works and for their display of the fruits of the Spirit.

They must have been involved in meeting the practical needs of those in the church and those outside of the church. Jesus says I know your works, love, service. They were obviously serving others.

It seemed they were doing these things not out of duty but because their hearts had been changed by the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit was working in them and producing the fruit of the Spirit. Here Jesus mentions three. Love, faith, patience

Love for each other, the lost and the LORD.

Faith in Jesus Christ and trust in God’s promises

Patience in times of suffering and persecution. Their patience probably refers to how some of them responded to the economic suffering they would have faced by not being willing to participate in the idolatry of the different guilds in the city.

b) They are growing in grace

Not only were they displaying God’s grace in their lives but they were also growing in grace. They were progressing in their Christian life.

v.19b “and as for your works, the last are more than the first”

Rather than going backwards many of them seemed to be going forwards. They were growing as Christians.

There is a clear contrast with the church at Ephesus. They were said to have left their first love. Their last works were not as good as their first works, they were going backwards.

Where as Jesus could say to the church at Thyatira that their last works were greater than their first.

Application-

These are encouraging words from the Lord Jesus. We can imagine the joy the church felt to hear the Lord commend them for these things.

In these things we can Take Thyatira as an example to follow. Let us like them be displaying the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. Could it be said of us that Jesus knows our work, love, service?

Could Jesus say to us you have the fruits of the Spirit on display in your life? I see your love for others and your love for me. Your faith, your patience in suffering.

Are we growing in grace? Are we becoming stronger Christians. Are we growing in our sanctification? Dying more and more to sin and living more and more to Jesus?

How might we do this? Daily Bible reading, spending time in the word of God is one way we grow as Christians. Spending time in prayer every day. Being obedient, repenting of all sin, allowing the Holy Spirit to control our lives in every part.

It seems that many in Thyatira were doing this. But yet as difficult as it is to understand beside these good things they had a serious problem.

Jesus calls his church to purity by commending their good works, next Jesus calls out their sin.

II. Jesus calls out sin v.20-23

a) They are tolerating a false teacher

After having encouragement the Lord says things to them that must have caused them shame.

v.20 “Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols”

The Lord Jesus has something against them; They were allowing a false teacher to teach false doctrine and lead Christians astray. Jesus uses a singular pronoun here which shows he is referring to the church in its entirety. The church is allowing this to happen. They are all culpable.

They were tolerating a false teacher to lead people in the church astray.

What was this false teaching? The Lord Jesus refers to the lady by the name Jezebel. Maybe she is called this name because she shares a likeness to Jezebel in OT who lead Israel astray 1Kings 16:31

Perhaps she was teaching the Christians in Thyatira that a little participation in pagan practices was ok. It is a historical fact that there were many trade guilds in Thyatira. In order to find work in the many trades there you needed to be part of a guild. Each guild has their patron deity, if you were part of the guild you need to participate in the worship of the patron deity. Maybe this false prophetess is teaching the Christians it is ok to participate. It is ok to offer the sacrifice, take part in the rituals.

This is probably why Jesus says this false teacher is seducing his servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

Similar teachings to the false teachers in Pergamos. Perhaps she like the false teachers in Pergamos were saying your are not under the law but under grace, it doesn’t matter.

The Lord Jesus says it does matter. When we read the next verse you get the sense that this had been going on for some time and that the Lord Jesus had already warned her to repent.

b) Jesus has been merciful

v.21 “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent”

Here we see the mercy and patience of the Lord Jesus.

He has been patient with her. He has given her time to repent. This is a truth that we see all throughout Scripture. God is merciful and patient. He offers mercy to those who repent.

He gives people time to turn from their sin. 2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

This is what the Lord Jesus had done with Jezebel. He called her to repent he offered her mercy, he waited for her to change her mind, to turn and he would forgive her.

But she refused so what was left was judgement. We read of this in v.22-23.

c) Now he warns of Judgement

v.22-23 “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”

i) He will cause her to be sick

ii) Those who join with her will suffer

iii) Those lead astray by her will be killed

iii) An example to other churches

Application-

Here we see the care of the Lord Jesus for the church don’t we. He will not tolerate false teaching that causes his people to sin and be unfaithful to him. Jesus desires a pure church. He purchased it with his own blood so that it might be holy not filthy with sin.

He calls the church to get rid of this false teacher, if not then he will come in swift judgement and it will not be pretty.

He is the one with eyes as flaming fire and feet as fine bronze, he sees all of their sin and will come in swift judgement.

As this was intended to be an example to other churches, it is important we learn from it today. What is the right way to deal with someone in the church leading people astray. The answer is not to be tolerant, but to tell them to leave and not come back until they have repented.

The church must call out their error for all to see so that people are not lead astray by it. Sometimes this can come across as unloving but actually it is the most loving this to do. It is most loving to other Christians, the church and most importantly to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is also a challenge here for each of us to examine our own selves. Our Lord wants a holy church, he sees all of our sin. Are there things in our lives that he could say to us nevertheless I have a few things against you? Let us turn from these things. Jesus is a merciful Saviour and will forgive us and restore us if we confess and turn from them.

Jesus calls his church to purity by commending the good, calling out sin. Finally Jesus encourages the faithful.

III. Jesus encourages faithful Christians v.24-29

a) No other burden on the faithful but hold fast

Although there were major problems at Thyatira and most were probably involved one way or another. There was still a small number of those who were not tolerant and not to blame.

v.24-25 “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast what you have till I come.”

Jesus refers to the teaching of Jezebel as the depths of Satan, showing how evil it really was. He addresses those who do not hold to her teachings and basically says keep on doing what you are doing. Keep on being faithful. Keep on loving and serving others, displaying the fruits of the Spirit and keep on growing in grace.

We see here the tender care of Jesus for his church. He is the good shepherd. He gently leads his flock. He doesn’t give his people more than they bear. He says to his people I will put no other burden on you. But hold fast to what you have.

b) Promises to faithful

After encouraging the faithful to keep going, he then issues a promise to those who overcome. He does this in the other letters.

We see in v.26-28 he promises two rewards to those who overcome the false teaching of Jezebel and keep going in their faithfulness.

v.26-28 “26 And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—27 ‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’— as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.

i) Messianic kingdom

The first promise is that the overcomer will rule with Jesus in his Kingdom. The Lord Jesus quotes from verse 2 that prophesy about the future reign of Jesus. Jesus takes a prophecy that was about him and he applies it to those who over come.

Those who are faithful to Jesus will rule with him.

ii) Victory

The second promise is that Jesus will give them the morning star. There are different opinions on what Jesus meant by this. He doesn’t explain it for us in the passage.

One of the best explanations is that it is linked with the first promise and refers to ruling with Jesus, having victory over this world and reigning with him. The morning star is also known as Venus. Venus was the roman godess of victory. Often Roman soldiers would have Venus on their shields. This connection between the morning star and victory would have been obvious to those living in Thyatira.

Perhaps Jesus is saying the one who overcomes will have true victory. The greek word for overcome can also be translated as conquer or victory so there is probably a plan on words here.

Jesus is saying the one who gets the victory over Jezebels false doctrine I will give everlasting victory in my heavenly kingdom.

After he encourages the faithful believers with these promises he finishes his letter like he does in the others by calling everyone to pay attention.

c) call for everyone to hear

v.29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’

This reminds us that we as the church today need to learn from this letter to the church at Thyatira.

Application-

So what can we learn from this final point.

Well firstly if we are being faithful we can rest assured that the Lord Jesus sees that. Just as he knew who the faithful ones were in Thyatira so he knows when we are seeking to be faithful.

Sometimes you can find yourself in a situation when you are trying to remain faithful to the truth of God’s word and all you seem to be getting is grief, no good seems to be coming from it. The encouragement here is that Jesus sees it, he takes notice, and he calls you to carry on being faithful. Hold fast to what you have.

We can do that knowing the wonderful blessings Jesus promises to those who over come. We will rule and reign with him in his heavenly kingdom.

We will have true victory and we will reign with the True Victor the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Jesus desires a pure church. Sadly, there are times when churches start to go astray. That was the case here at Thyatira, they were allowing a false teacher to lead Christians astray into sin. This letter is a record of the Lord Jesus calling them back to himself.

How did he do that?

He commended the good, He called out their sin and he encouraged the faithful.

What three points can we take away for ourselves?

Let us take the good as an example. Are we serving others? Are we displaying the fruits of the Spirit? Are we growing in grace?

We must not tolerate false teachers. If a fire isn’t put out quickly it will spread through the whole house.

We must remain faithful and be encouraged that there is a wonderful future ahead.