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Today we look at the fourth of the seven churches of Revelation - Thyatira.
Before we look at some of the teaching that came to this church to understand the context of this letter we need to know some background information about the town.
Thyatira was a small town, in fact the smallest and least important of the towns named in Revelation, although the letter to it was the longest of the letters to the seven churches. In spite of its size it was a strategic town as it was situated on the major trade routes of the region. This trade route connected Pergamum (the capital of the province) with Sardis and went on to Philadelphia and Laodicea. It was on this road that the major imperial mail travelled and it was crowded with the commerce of Asia and the east. Therefore, in spite of its size, Thyatira was a highly active commercial town.
As well as being a major commercial centre, Thyatira is said to have been famous for its highly organised trade unions or guilds. In the news recently we have heard a great deal about the Waterfront Union and its opposition to the Farmers and Graziers Association in establishing its own wharf with union fee labour. Well, in Thyatira, the issues were similar. If you wanted work or wanted support for your business, then you needed to be a member of one or more of the trade guilds (unions). One of the problems with this for the Christians of Thyatira was that the trade guilds were also semi-religious institutions who would offer formal sacrifices to the local deities.
I will refer back to this background information, but first lets read Rev. 2:18-29
1. FACT CONCERNING CHRIST
From this passage, what does it teach us about Christ.
In the very first verse of this passage it says 3 things about Christ. That he Son of God, that his eyes are like blazing fire, and that his feet are like burnished bronze.
This is the first and only time in the book of Revelation that the title, ‘Son of God’ is used. There are some people who claim that Jesus never said that he was the Son of God, but here is one of several places in the New Testament that Jesus makes this claim very clearly. The significance of this is that Jesus is stressing His deity.
It is, therefore, as Son of God that Jesus describes Himself as having ‘eyes like blazing fire’ and ‘feet as burnished bronze’. These phrases are taken directly from Daniel 10:6 which says of the Risen Lord Jesu: ‘His face was like the appearance of lightening, and his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze’.
This phrase stands for two things. First, that Jesus’ eyes penetrate the heart of Mankind. Second, it describes His anger against and intolerance toward sin. In other words, Jesus’ gaze penetrates the facades and disguises we put on. He cuts through our pretentious thoughts and gets right down to the heart.
What is this saying?
It is saying that if we just play church on Sunday’s and during our home group nights, but live a different and worldly lifestyle out side of that thinking no-one can see, then think again.
Christ calls us to obedient lives. When we lie, deceive others, involve ourselves in activities that are not right for a person who professes to have a relationship with Christ etc, then He sees us as we are. He knows our hearts and He knows our thoughts. If we claim to be a Christian on the outside, but the motivation is simply to gain a life insurance policy to get us into Heaven, then, as much as we think we may fool others, we do not fool the Lord. Calling Christ Saviour verbally does not make us a Christian. If, from our hearts, we invite Him into our lives as both Lord and Saviour, then we are starting to get on the right track, and our lifestyle will display this to be the case.
James 2:17-19 says
Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them?
True faith in Christ is displayed in our lifestyle. Christianity isn’t something we do, it is something that we are and live by day by day, minute by minute, second by second. And Christ can see right through to the heart of our being.
This stands for the immovable power of Jesus Christ. Christ is not open to compromise when it comes to the living of ethical and moral lives in obedience to His authority and leadership. When we attempt to usurp that authority in our lives, then He can trample the sin under foot and severely punish that which is wrong.
Can you imagine getting that type of information at the start of a letter you just received. Basically it says this:
‘I am the Son of God, my eyes pierce your hearts and see your inner most thoughts, desires, and lusts. My anger is against sin and it is that sin that I shall stamp out of my church.’
I don’t know about you, but I would not feel very comfortable about what was to come in a letter if I read that type of introduction. The fact is, the church at Thyatira was the most wicked of the seven churches, and therefore the following rebuke was needed.
The church in Thyatira was not all bad. In verse 19 we find the church commended for their love, faith, service, perseverance - that they did more now than they ever did before.
All these things are interrelated. Love leads to service and faith leads to perseverance. If you truly love God, then you will serve His people, you cannot help it. Willingness to serve is a sign that you truly love God because selfish accomplishment or desire does not come from God. You will also have the faith to persevere under pressure and temptation. You know that it is God who is in control and you will let Him work things out for you according to His purpose.
So, within this church were people who had these attributes. They had faith in God’s word and therefore persevered. They helped and reached out to others because of the love of God in their hearts. As a result, the church grew.
In spite of these positive attributes there were negative influences that were of major concern.
The rebuke came in the form that the woman Jezebel was tolerated by the church. This wasn’t her name, but Jesus identifies her with having similar characteristics of Jezebel from the Old Testament.
The Old Testament Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab of Israel, and she is noted for having made the worship of the fertility god Baal popular in Israel. Worship to this god included sexual and immoral practices. Because of Jezebel’s work, she helped Baal worship become the most popular religion of the day.
She was the one who tried to kill Elijah after his famous encounter with 480 of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. She was also the one who murdered her neighbor Naboth because her husband wanted his vineyard. She was a ruthless and immoral. This is why Jesus selects her name for this dominant woman at Thyatira.
This Jezebel in Thyatira called herself a "prophetess." There is nothing wrong with that in itself. But the trouble with Thyatira’s Jezebel is that she was a false prophet. Jesus said in this letter that she taught it was all right for Christians to indulge in sexual immorality and in idolatry.
It’s here that we find the problem with the trade unions of Thyatira entering into the scene. In order to work in these unions, which constituted the entire business of the city, Christians had to join a union, or guild, made up of pagans for the most part. The meetings of the guilds were devoted to immoral and sexual practices which were connected with the worship of erotic idols of the Greek world.
We don’t know exactly who this Jezebel was, but we do know that she had a great deal of influence in the church, otherwise she would not have been addressed in this letter. She promoted two things: sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.
a) Sexual Immorality
We see here, and elsewhere in the Bible, that sexual immorality is described to be clearly forbidden by God. If we choose to ignore this principal, then we are violating the God’s authority in our lives.
1 Cor 5 records Paul exhorting the church to expel a brother in the congregation due to his involvement in an immoral relationship.
1 Cor. 6:12-20 (read)
Sexual intimacy is a gift from God, but a gift given to be shared only in a marriage partnership.
There are Christians today who say we must allow all sexual relationships to be accepted. That is sexual relationships that are homosexual and sexual relationships outside of wedlock.
I cannot say this any more strongly than this ideology is a clear violation of God’s Word and God’s authority, and this letter to Thyatira clearly shows His attitude towards this thinking and activity.
Churches and Christians who openly or secretly permit homosexuality and sexual relationships out of wedlock are saying to God, "Sorry God, but you need to get with it. This is the modern age you know. Just follow us and we’ll show the way."
There is no clearer way to say this. Sexually immoral relationships, that is, relationships that go outside of the guidelines God has placed are sinful and are categorical denunciation of God’s authority in an individuals life.
If you have been, or are currently, in this type of relationship then you need to repent of your sin. That is confess it to God and go and sin no more.
Interestingly, in this passage, even for the woman Jezebel, Jesus says in verse 21 ‘I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling’. You see, Jesus just wants us to live obedient lives in Him. He asks us to confess, to repent and turn back to Him - the door is not closed to us, but, due to our stubbornness and desire to serve ourselves and our own desires, we, like the woman Jezebel, close the door on God. All this achieves is us separating ourselves from Him.
Sexual immorality is included as idolatry.
b) Idolatry
One of the issues for this church was that they accepted meat offered to idols which was forbidden as it was associated to the worship of man made deities other than God Himself. This created great problems for the local Christians.
Barclay said this:
"The prohibition of meat offered to idols had one far outreaching consequence. It came near to cutting off a Christian from all social contact with non-Christians; there were few social occasions, and almost no banquets, which he/she could share with the heathen world."
This was the problem these Thyatiran Christians faced. In order to make a living they had to belong to a union, but to attend the union was to become involved, or to be pressured to become involved, with the worship of idols. So they had to make a choice. It was difficult to live in Thyatira for this very reason. But apparently Jezebel had begun to teach that it was all right for them to go along with the requirements of the guild, that they needed to submit to the pressures of the world around in order to make a living, and that God would understand and overlook this. Her philosophy was what you often hear today: "Business is business." If business practices collide with your Christian principles, then your principles have to go -- because you have to make a living.
Have you ever heard that argument?
This whole scenario is replayed in many churches and individual Christians lives today who accept the easy going sexuality and lack of standards that is so widespread in our society.
A preacher named Ray Stedman said:
"It is impossible to miss the condemnation of the Bible in these respects. If people deliberately reject the Lord's authority, he is no longer their God. The result is, they must find another god, for it is impossible for the human spirit to live without something to live for. That is what a god is. Whatever you are living for, whatever makes life worthwhile to you, becomes your god. It may be the god of pleasure, even sexual pleasure. It may be the god of wealth. It may be the god of power, a lust for power and ambition. It may be the search for fame. The point that is being made here is that wherever you work is the place of greatest temptation in this regard. Right here this morning there are businessmen and businesswomen, stockbrokers, professional people, clerks, secretaries, various laborers in the marketplace, and in shops, etc. It is right where you work that you will be under pressure to compromise, and to go along with the standards of the world around. "
Folks, who is your god?
OR
There are so many distractions, both good and bad, in our lives that can take us away from the most important relationship in our lives. This is not to say to love friends, family and spouse less. But it is to say to love and serve Jesus Christ more.
We will quickly look at the counsel God gives to this church. There are two things.
This has already been highlighted before at the start of the letter which spoke of Jesus’ feet as being burnished bronze’. That is, they will tread out sin.
The message is simple, Jesus takes sin seriously, therefore, we need to also take sin seriously. Notice though His grace, mercy and love being displayed. He says that this judgement will not come their way if they repent. That’s all it takes. Giving up on our pride and selfishness, turning back to God, and handing the reigns or steering wheel of our life back over to Him.
Likewise, our society today is no different to the society of Thyatira. As Christians there are many pressures around us to compromise our standing in Christ.
These pressures come from within and without the Church.
Within are those denominations or individuals who tell us to loosen our standards. To become more ‘with it’, be more open and broad minded, and combine both contemporary and biblical teaching to intermingle. The problem is, these people’s view of Scripture is that it is merely a book of history and needs to be read in the context of history rather than viewing it as God’s authoritative and spoken word which is relevant at all times.
External pressures come in the form of pier pressure, pressure from work mates, financial pressure, pressure from family members.
The encouragement here is - persevere, don’t give in. Remain faithful to God because He remains faithful to you.
If we do this, rewards come our way. In our obedience, God gives us some wonderful promises He will keep.
Two are mentioned in this passage.
This is taken from Psalm 2 and is a promise of us reigning with Christ.
This promise is of Christ Himself. If a Christian is true, that is, Christ knows that within the heart of that person is a love for Himself and a desire to obey, then when life for that person comes to an end they will possess Christ for all of eternity. That is, that Jesus Himself will appear for His own children, true Christians. They are the one’s who, despite falling from time to time, have repented, recovered, and turned back to Him. That is the sign of real faith, that we will turn back, repent, and obey Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
Where do you stand with Christ today?
You could be a person who is persevering, faithfully holding on to God’s word despite pressures around you - I encourage you to continue to persevere.
You could be a person who has succumbed to pressures around you, making some compromises that you thought wouldn’t hurt, but you know were not true to God’s word - you need to hand these back to God, repent, and ask for His guidance and nurture.
You might be a person who accepts Jesus Christ as Saviour, but there are many things in your life you just don’t see as necessary to let go to God. You want to retain control and basically want the insurance form to get into Heaven. My reading of Scripture tells me that if you are one of these people, then you are only giving God lip service, and you are in danger of being so close to the border that as much as you believe you are a Christian, you may not be. Christ asks us to let Him be both Lord and Saviour. You need to hand your whole life over to Him.
Our God is a loving, caring, grace-giving and mercy-giving God. He openly holds His arms out to each and every one of us, He just asks us to turn from the sin of the world and come back obediently to Him. At the same time, He is a God who does not believe in playing games, He isn’t interested in a dysfunctional relationship - He wants a relationship with each one of us that contains faithfulness, love, sincerity, trust, and obedience.
By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 8th March 1998