The Church in Thyatira: Loving people : Confronting Sin

Nobody likes having to deal with a bottleneck. In traffic… In construction… at the grocery store… Changing lanes at the grocery store never works well for me… I’m the real bottleneck.

Sometimes bottlenecks just cannot but many times they can be avoided.

We can learn life lessons in 2 ways: We can learn from our own bad choices or we can learn from other people’s bad choices.

When we listen to other’s who made poor choices in life, we can learn the necessary lessons and avoid those painful consequences.

Confronting an issue can be difficult. Sometimes people aren’t willing to learn. Sometimes people aren’t teachable. Sometimes people get easily offended. We are still called to declare God’s truth no matter how well it is received, as long as it’s spoken in love.

If we are going to live out the truth, we must know the truth. We won’t know the false unless we know the truth.

The Church in Thyatira, was dealing with compromise and were encountering pressure to dilute the truth… because of fear… discomfort… because of an evil, demonic influence.

We see that Jesus boldly confronts the compromise and sin… that sin became the bottleneck that hindered God’s blessing and favor on many in the church. The bottleneck caused many people in this church not to live in victory… not to be a church that overcome.

Revelation 2:18–29 (NIV)

18 “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. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 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. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 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. 23 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.

24 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, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—27 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. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Pray

Why Thyatira?

Thyatira was a minor town on the Circular Road of Asia, twenty miles southeast of Pergamum and halfway between Pergamum and Sardis. It had served as a military outpost for the kingdom of Pergamum and came under Roman rule at the same time as Pergamum in 133 b.c. Today the large Turkish town of Akhisar is on the same location.

The most famous early Christian of Thyatira was Lydia, a seller of purple fabric converted to Christ during Paul’s ministry in Philippi (Acts 16:14).

Thyatira was known for its many trade guilds, particularly among the copper-smiths and the fabric weavers and dyers.

Thyatira was a main manufacturing city.

Thyatira was a blue collar town. A working person’s town.

As a center for manufacturing, the city was filled with many trade guilds.

Trade guilds were something like modern labor unions, which was important for business success in the town.

Message to Thyatira: be morally pure (2:18–29)

a. Characteristic: blazing eyes and burnished feet (2:18)

b. Compliment: increasing in good works (2:19)

c. Criticism: tolerance for immorality (2:20–22a)

d. Command: hold fast to purity (2:22b–25)

e. Commitment: will rule nations and receive a star (2:26–29)

Jesus’s Unique Characteristic

Revelation 2:18 (NIV)

18 “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.

Blazing Eyes and Burnished Bronze Feet:

Thyatira, a working person’s town and center for manufacturing. The city was filled with many trade guilds for commerce such as cloth making, dyeing, leather-working, bronze-working, and pottery making.

The blazing eyes indicate the penetrating power of his vision; the feet of bronze indicate strength for executing judgment.

Jesus begins with the unique imagery with the blazing eyes as the one who sees all things. Jesus is shown to have the power to bring judgement on everything seen and unseen.

This unique characteristic about Jesus shows us HIS vision is clear and unhindered and HIS judgement is swift and just.

Jesus is saying that nothing we do is hidden from God’s sight and we will all stand before the Lord Jesus Christ.

When Jesus confronts sin in our life, repentance must be our first response.

Jesus’s Specific Compliment

Revelation 2:19 (NIV)

19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

Jesus compliments the church for the good deeds. Their love… which was what the Ephesian church had lost…

Their faith, their service and their patient endurance… their perseverance. Jesus was pleased to see their constant improvement in all these things.

Jesus said they loved one another, they had faith, they were faithful in their service, they persevered.

Their foundation was right but there was a force that was infiltrating the church. Not everyone in the church was faithful in serving Jesus because HE had a severe criticism. This was the warning Thyatira had to confront.

Jesus’s Severe Criticism

Revelation 2:20–22 (NIV)

20 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. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 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.

Jesus addresses some major issues in this church. They had love but they were not good at confronting false teachers (opposite of the Church in Ephesis). They had become tolerant of false teachers, those who were attempting to compromise with the pagan society…

a lot like the church in Pergamum Where Jesus brought up Balaam… In the Letter to Thyatira, Jesus brought up Jezebel.

Who is Jezebel?

1 Kings 16-19; 2 Kings 9:30–37 are the main texts that tell of the original Jezebel. She lived during the days that the Northern Kingdom of Israel flourished under her husband Ahab (first half of the ninth century b.c.).

She was a Phoenician princess, daughter of King Ethbaal of Tyre and Sidon. She was passionately committed to the gods of her childhood, Tyrian Baal and his consort Asherah.

She dominated her husband in religious matters. Her great opponent was Elijah, who triumphed over the priest of Baal at Mount Carmel (1 Kgs. 18:17–40).

After Ahab’s death, she forced her great power as the queen mother. Her violent death was God’s verdict on her life (2 Kgs. 9:30–37).

Because she viciously rejected Yahweh, her name became a byword for evil and religious apostasy.

This is the only time Jezebel’s name appears in the New Testament in Revelation 2:20, where it is the code name for a false prophetess.

Jezebel in the OT was not a “prophetess,” but she did sponsor 850 false prophets of Baal. She also fought hard to kill off God’s true prophets.

“By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality”

Jezebel in the OT was never accused of literal harlotry, but she sponsored spiritual harlotry. She led Israel away from the Lord through witchcraft.

There was a great fear of Jezebel in the OT… the Lord’s prophet’s were hiding in caves… even Elijah feared Jezebel after Mt Carmel.

Jezebel had power and influence over the nation of Israel. Those under her authority were influenced by the real possibility of pain, loss, giving up their families, even death.

With the church having to be a part of these trade guilds in Thyatira, with this association it probably included eating fellowship meals together at a pagan temple (“food sacrificed to idols”) and other unbridled excesses.

Some of the Christians there may have adopted the teachings of “Jezebel” as a way to reconcile membership in a trade guild with membership in Christ’s church.

The people in the church were pressured to participate in order to make a good living and support their family.

Those in the church, didn’t want to rattle anyone’s cage… make it a big deal… they would rather not offend anyone, stand up for their convictions, cave in because they didn’t want to be racist or intolerant, plus that was the easier thing to do.

I’m sure for many, it’s what they did before following Jesus and if it’s not a big deal to the church, why make it a big deal.

We believe that Jesus Christ has the power to change lives. Sin destroys lives… whether it’s sexual sin, addiction, anger, abuse… as his church, we must not tolerate but we must confront it. Jesus came to give us freedom not to keep us enslaved to sin.

Jesus’s Clear Command

Revelation 2:22–25 (NIV)

22 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. 23 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.

24 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, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’

Jesus gives a clear command for those who have been influenced by Jezebel’s ways… repent.

For those who have not given into that Satanic secretive influence… Keep holding on to your relationship with Jesus… keep holding onto your faith. Hold firmly to God’s Word, abide in Christ.

Jesus makes it clear to those who are influencing and those who are following…

Jesus said for those who come against the church in this way, God will be their Judge if they are unwilling to repent. But also, for those who choose to compromise with these people, Jesus also said I will make them suffer for their choices.

Just because it’s the easy way, the popular way, it doesn’t mean that it’s the best way. In order to make the best decision we must be constantly seeking the Lord. Jesus is the one who searches hearts and minds.... HE is the one who searches out the thoughts and the intentions of every person.

So Before we make any decision… any job, any relationship, any change in plans, any political stance, any vote… seek the ONE who knows everyone’s thoughts and intentions.

listen to Jesus’s commands.

Jesus’s Commitment for those who overcome

Revelation 2:26–29 (NIV)

26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—27 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. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

If you repent and do my will to the very end, God will give you the grace necessary to be victorious.

Not only victory… Jesus said, I will give you authority over the nations.

We must know God’s Word… seek God’s presence… tune out the distractions that cause us to other things… things that give us a false sense of victory When Jesus wants to give us real victory, eternal.

The Word of God is the same yesterday today and forever. Jesus is still the way, the truth and the life and that will never change. Sin is still sin and we are in this struggle together.

God has a plan of victory in store for those who overcome. We are all called to remain in Christ despite the pressure to compromise God’s truth.

Take Away:

Jesus fully knows all the strengths and weaknesses of each of HIS churches. The church still belongs to Christ, and HE holds the church accountable to HIMSELF.

Each of the seven letters begins with Christ’s “I know.” The Greek for this is oida, a common verb in the New Testament that can hardly be distinguished from ginóskó,

Ginóskó is a knowledge gained through experience.

Oida typically points toward factual knowledge.

Each of these churches have characteristics not found in the others, and Christ is fully aware of them all.

Jesus still fully knows each of HIS churches 2000 years later.

Do we know the truth?

Head knowledge and experience.

Do we have a close relationship with Jesus?

Jesus knows us and wants us to draw near to HIM daily so that we can have a close relationship with HIM.