The Church of Thyatira
Notes
Transcript
I hope everyone has been enjoying this series the last few weeks. Today marks the half way point of this series. We are on the fourth church.
If you look at a map of where these three churches were located and where Patmos was located, where John wrote these letters from Jesus. They just kind of make a loop. Each of these churches were all within 50 miles of each other. For the most part it would be like us driving from here to Fayetteville. Let’s look at church number four, Thyatira.
If you have your bibles, go to the book of Revelation chapter 2. This is the last church in chapter two. Next Sunday we will move to chapter 3. But for today we will begin reading at verse 18.
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.
Jesus begins by addressing what the church as done well. Just like the other churches, Thyatira is commended for their deeds. They hadn’t lost their first love like Ephesus, but they had stayed strong. They actually were commended for the love that they had shown. They were commended for their faith and service. They were commended for their perseverance.
Love is a key component and they shown love to the people of their city.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;
7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
And their service. The same Greek work diakonia translated “service” is also translated “ministry” and is used for the ministry of the prophets, apostles, deacons and other church leaders.
So, when I think of the church at Thyatira and the work and service that they did, I can imagine that this was a powerful church. They were probably a church that had amazing worship services. They probably had one of the best food ministry programs. They took care of the needy. Their Christianity was evident every day of the week.
And their faith was outstanding. Their faith in God and the word. The Christians in Thyatira were a church that manifested their faith.
And this group was patient. They were praised for their perseverance.
Have you ever waited for something? It can get hard waiting patiently. You have prayed and asked God for your miracle and then you wait. This group understood that.
Jesus says, “you are now doing more than you did at first.” That means that their faith had grown, their love had grown, their perseverance had grown, everything about their walk with God had increased.
But there was still a group that had a problem.
Last week, we looked at the church in Pergamum, and they seemed to have a problem with outside forces trying to come in and cause problems in the church. The problem here in Thyatira is they have an inner problem. There is a woman that is trying to destroy the church from the inside.
When I was reading Stanley Horton’s commentary on this he said that a few ancient manuscripts have “your woman” instead of “that woman,” which would mean “your wife,” that is, the pastor’s wife. Whatever it is, the pastor and church tolerated her because she called herself a “prophetess.” But Jesus, calls her Jezebel.
But this Jezebel is actually worse than the Old Testament Jezebel. The Old Testament is the one we usually think about. She was Ahab’s wife. She tried to get Israel to worship Baal and even make Baal their national god.
But this Jezebel was claiming to be a prophetess. She was putting her words and teachings ahead of Christ’s and the Apostle’s teachings. Not only did she teach the people that it was all right in God’s eyes for them to commit the spiritual adultery of mixing with idolatrous worship and idolatrous immorality, she cleverly seduced believers who really wanted to serve the Lord and had been faithful to Him. These people were being victimized by this Jezebel.
Church, if someone comes to you proclaiming to be a prophet, take what they say and see if it matches up with the word of God. If it doesn’t then don’t believe. And you should never put more faith in a self proclaimed prophet than you do in the word of God.
29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
It is so important for us to judge prophecies. Then, we can let God reveal to us what the truth is. I believe there are people that God will give a word of wisdom to and they will speak to you through the work of the Holy Spirit, but it will either be confirmed to you later or it is something that God has already spoken to you about and they are confirming it to you. Do not be deceived. But make sure that it is backed up with the word of God.
Our world is full of false prophets. If you will listen real close to what they are saying you will see that they give more attention to human ideas and human philosophies than to the Word of God. Or they will try and twist the Word of God to fit their human ideas and false teachings. And then they don’t repent like this Jezebel. They only try to proclaim it more loudly and they claim that their prophecies or teachings are to be taken as authoritative.
But look at what Jesus says in verse 22 of our text.
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 is going to bring judgement upon these false prophets and teachers unless they repent for what they have said. The word adultery here is talking about adultery against God’s teaching. Or they were cheating on God’s teaching by proclaiming that their teaching was right even though it went against God’s teaching. We cannot allow this time of thing to happen in the church. It will defeat what God is trying to do. That is why it is so important that we back up everything that we do with the word of God.
And then Jesus speaks to the rest of the church at Thyatira. Look at verse 24.
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 seems to give them the same advice that Paul gave the Thessalonians.
9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
All of us should listen to this. Jesus is coming soon. And we should not stop doing the good things that we are doing. Don’t stop serving. Don’t stop doing the good things. Don’t stop worshipping. Don’t stop listening and reading God’s Word. Keep doing those things until Jesus returns. Look at Jesus’ promise to us in verse 26.
26 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
Think about this. To those of us believers that remain faithful until He comes, we have a promise that is given to us. We all believe that Jesus is God’s son. Look at what Psalm 2 says that God will give His son.
1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father.
8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
God has promised His Son the nations, or peoples, of the earth as His inheritance. As believers in Christ, we are heirs of God and join heirs with Christ.
7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
That means we share in this inheritance as we shall be with Him when He comes to establish His kingdom on earth.
But wait there is more.
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.
Not only do we have an inheritance, but he will give us the “morning star.” So, what is that?
In the Bible the morning star is not necessarily the planet Venus; it may be the sun itself, for the sun is the star that brings the morning. As the morning star, the sun is also a type of Christ,
2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.
By giving us the morning star, Jesus means He will give us himself in a new and wonderful way that will be full of healing , restoration, and all the promises of God.
What promises are you looking for from the father?
God promises you that He will strengthen you, He will help you, and He will uphold you.
10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
Do you have troubles in this world? Are things getting you down? Jesus promises you that he has overcome.
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Are you tired? Are you weary? Jesus says Come to me.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
How many of you need strength?
31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
This is for you. This is for today. This is not just for the church at Thyatira, but it is for you here today at Cliff Terrace Church, 3301 South 66th Street in Fort Smith, AR. It is for you today. This is the promises that are for you.
29 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus is speaking to you. So listen to what He is saying. If you are faithful and you will listen to God’s Word, then His promises are for you.
Let’s pray.