The medical field in Britain was rocked some years ago to discover that their profession had been infiltrated by terrorists. It was discovered that attempted terrorist acts were instigated by seven medical doctors and one medical lab technician with suspected links to al Qaeda. Britain hires foreign doctors to serve in their medical centers. One third of the medical doctors that are hired in these health centers are foreign. Two of the terrorists are from India and six come from the Middle East. The doctor who oversees recruiting physicians to serve in the British health services admits that it is impossible to keep out terrorists if they want to fool the system.
A British Anglican priest in Baghdad has said he received a veiled warning from an al Qaeda figure in Jordan three months before the attacks were planned against Britain and the United States. The veiled warning said, “The people who cure you will kill you.” He passed this on to the police.
Of course, we remember the November 5, 2009 mass shooting by Islamic terrorist army psychiatrist Nidal Hisan. He killed 14 and injured 30 at Ft. Hood, near Killen, Texas. The signs were present but political correctness ignored taking precautionary actions.
We’ve always known that the greatest danger comes from within. On January 27, 1838, a young politician by the name of Abraham Lincoln delivered these powerful words in regard to the danger to America:
At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow. Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined with all the treasure of the earth, our own excepted, in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in the trial of a thousand years. At what point is the approach of danger to be expected? If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all the time or die by suicide.
From all outward appearances, the church at Thyatira was a thriving, spiritual church, but Christ saw something seriously wrong when He looked at it. They had many fine qualities, but they tolerated and compromised on the issue of holiness. Holiness is an indispensable mark of the Christian and of the true church.
A Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of God. In the early days of the church when they were trying to describe this reality, they called Him the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ. However, the most evident fruit of the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ was holiness. Christians called the third person of the trinity the Holy Spirit because He produced holy living in believers.
Speaking of God the Father, Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4, “For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.” God the Father’s purpose before the creation of the world was for us to be holy. Speaking of God the Son, Paul wrote in Titus 2:14, He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works. Jesus died on the cross in order to purify us for Himself. How important is the matter of holiness? The Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united in the purpose of making us holy.
Be assured, if God is working so energetically and completely to make us a holy people, Satan is working to make us a sinful people. If he can’t harm the church by persecution like the church at Smyrna or false teaching like the church at Pergamum, he will endlessly entice us into sin. Satan’s strategy against the church at Thyatira was to corrupt it with evil. He sought to get the church to tolerate sin and make compromises with wickedness.
The letter to the church at Thyatira is the longest of the seven letters. Thyatira is the smallest and least significant of the seven towns. It’s the middle letter. I wonder if this arrangement is to make us more alert to our tendency to compromise our devotion to Christ.
Let me read the letter in its entirety, and then I will go back and explain and apply:
(18) “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: (19) I know your works — your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. (20) But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. (21) I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. (22) Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her works, (23) I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. (24) I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets of Satan” — as they say — I am not putting any other burden on you. (25) Only hold on to what you have until I come. (26) The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —
(27) and he will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will shatter them like pottery —
(28) just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.
(29) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
The outline is like the other letters. There is Christ’s compliment (v. 18-19), Christ’s criticism (v. 20-23), and Christ’s encouragement (v. 24-29).
I. CHRIST COMPLIMENT—THEY ARE A GROWING CHURCH (REV. 2:18-19)
Like the other letters, it begins with a description of Christ that fits the context and condition of the church. Note the description of Christ.
A. Description of Christ (v. 18)
“Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze:
This is the only place in the book of Revelation that Jesus is described as “the Son of God.” Apollos was the major pagan deity worshiped in Thyatira. He was the son of Zeus, the chief god. The One speaking to the church is the real Son of God. When our President speaks to the nation, the networks interrupt regular scheduled programming because of the importance of his message. When the Son of God speaks, it interrupts the course of history and dramatically alters lives.
Bart Ehrman is called the happy atheist. When he was, listen to this, the chair of the department of religion at the University of North Carolina. He taught an introduction course to the Bible. His college classes would be filled with many church kids. He asked them who believed the Bible was the Word of God. Hands shot up. He asked how many read it every day. Hands dropped down. Then he would say if he genuinely believed this book was from the one and only God, and this God had something to say to him, he would read it thoroughly every day. Not bad advice from an atheist!
The Son of God is speaking to Northeast this morning from this book. He will speak to you tomorrow if you will but pick it up and read.
His eyes are like a fiery flame. This may reflect the metal workers eyes as their eyes reflected the glow of the bronze metal being heated, melted and the impurities were separated.
He knows the truth about this church. He sees clearly and accurately every action and motivation. Jesus can’t be fooled. How is it that someone can read that and walk away without any fear? He knows our thoughts and our motivations. He knows our shame and guilt and fears that we have not breathed a word to anyone else. He is the One with whom you must be honest.
His “feet are like fine bronze.” Fine bronze means it gleams. This is the idea in the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” Christ cannot only diagnose the problem; He can eradicate the problem. Diagnosing a problem is easier than fixing it, not with Jesus.
The description of Christ leads next to the description of the church.
B. The description of the church (v. 19).
I know your works — your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.
The Christian church at Thyatira is characterized by love. When you attended this church, they welcomed you and made room in their life that included you. They loved you. They loved each other. It was not divided and squabbling. When there is a list describing Christian character, it always starts with love. If you spent all your life just seeking to grow in Christlike love, you would have spent your life well.
A man visited a ramshackle building that served as a mission school. When he entered, he saw a young man standing, holding a child in his arms while he read him the story of the prodigal son. The reader couldn’t pronounce some of the words, so he just skipped them. The visitor was astonished that God could use such an inferior messenger as His servant.
Afterward the man told his visitor that he had only one talent—love. He had no education and no money, but he loved the Lord Jesus, and he simply wanted to do something for Him. That man was Dwight L. Moody. Moody was the Billy Graham of the last half of the 1800’s.
They were characterized as being faithful. In the Revelation, this means they lived consistently with the name Christian. They were moral, truthful, and kind. All that you associate with being identified as Christian, the church at Thyatira represented.
They were characterized by service. This is the only place this word occurs. It describes an active life of care and charitable help. People in the church family in need of help, got it from their fellow Christians. People in the community that were needy found a helping hand from the church at Thyatira. Churches in our community feed, cloth, house, and provide medical care for people in need. Where would people in our community find their needs met if there were no churches? Norman would be a brutal, difficult place to live if there were no churches. There’s no calculating the dollars and hours churches give to serve the needs of our community.
The church at Thyatira was characterized by perseverance. This is the chief characteristic in Revelation of the overcomer. Despite hard times and opposition, they would not give up on Jesus.
Here is the thrilling part about this church. They were growing and improving in these areas! They were more loving, faithful, serving, and persevering. Their impact on the town of Thyatira was enlarging.
There are many images in the Bible that convey the Christian life is to be a life of progressive growth. The Bible speaks of infants in the faith, children, young men and elders. We are to abide in the vine, a relationship with Jesus, and produce fruit. We are metal that is being refined and the impurities being removed. If you and a friend met after being separated for five to ten years, would they detect that you had grown as a Christian? Do you have a plan for Christian growth?
In the college church I attended, the pastor’s wife gave her testimony of her plan to grow as a Christian. She was going to memorize one verse/month that year. She acknowledged that didn’t seem to be very challenging, but it would be 12 verses she didn’t know and over a lifetime it could amount to much. That was 1980. If she maintained that practice, today she would have memorized 480 Bible verses. She would have memorized James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation 1 and 2. You wouldn’t have a problem that she wouldn’t have a verse to give you. This was the church at Thyatira.
However, something seriously was wrong in the church.
II. CHRIST’S CRITICISM—THEY COMPROMISED ON HOLINESS (REV. 2:20-23)
The church is astonishingly good—loving, faithful, serving, and persevering. Four great Christian virtues. How could Jesus have anything against this church? When we see a ministry, we only see the blessings. Jesus sees everything. There’s one word missing from this list—holiness.
Jesus outlines the problem in v. 20-21.
A. The problem (v. 20-21)
(20) But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. (21) I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.
There’s a real woman in the church who claims to have special revelation from God. Her teaching is leading the church into immorality and compromise with the world’s morality. Her real name is most likely not Jezebel. The name gives us insight into her influence and doctrine.
Jezebel was the wife of King Ahab who ruled in the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah was the prophet. She was a Sidonian and a devotee of Baal worship. She killed the true prophets of God and sought to establish the worship of Baal in Israel. The worship of Baal was terribly wicked and involved sexual immorality.
God judged her terribly. She was thrown from a tower and died on the street below. The incoming conquering army trampled her beneath the hooves of their horses. Her corpse was eaten by dogs.
God equates this woman in the church with this most wicked woman of the Old Testament. She is having the same kind of influence and they are doing nothing about confronting her lies and influence.
There are churches that do so much good in a community. They feed, cloth, and house the needy. They assist the community in its efforts to make the city a wonderful place to live for families. However, they are silent or promote sexual behavior that is contrary to the Word of God.
They once were cornerstones of holiness in a community. They were its conscience, but no longer.
Ravi Zacharias told of talking to “a very successful businessman who throughout our conversation repeatedly asked, ‘But what about all the evil in this world?’ Finally, a friend sitting next to me said to him, ‘I hear you constantly expressing a desire to see a solution to the problem of evil around you. Are you as troubled by the problem of evil within you?’ In the pin-drop silence that followed, the man’s face showed his duplicity.”
I wonder if the failure to confront this woman was due to a failure to confront their own wickedness? You know what makes a church holy? Holy Christians. I wonder what Jesus sees when He looks at Northeast. Would He see us as a holy church?
Next is the punishment.
B. The punishment (v. 22-23).
(22) Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her works, (23) I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
Those who follow her example will experience the same fate. Jesus has one word for them—repent.
Her children are not physical children but her followers. They are devoted to her teaching. They will experience her judgment. He does this because He wants the churches to know that this is serious. Tolerance of sin is not a light matter. This tolerance of sin cannot be hidden from Jesus. Either the churches will deal with it or He will.
As Christians we respect people who hold a different worldview or religious faith. Nevertheless, this does not mean we are apathetic about morality. We are to maintain our integrity as holy people while maintaining our compassion for all kinds of sinners. Friendships with those who don’t agree with our views or lifestyle give us an opportunity to share our uncompromised convictions with uncompromised compassion.
However, when it comes to the church, we serve a holy God. He is clear about the lifestyle of his people. Tell me if the church gives up telling the truth to society about godly sexual ethics, who will tell it? Not the public schools. Not the business community. Not public opinion which is malleable and fluid. The only source that is upholding truth in our generation is the church of Jesus Christ. We can’t imagine the destruction and deviation that would be released on our lives if the church stops preaching about a holy God who expects His people to live holy lives.
People in the gay lifestyle say our churches hurt them by telling them that their lifestyle is sinful. Is it wrong for the doctor to tell a patient that they are morbidly obese, and it is cutting their life short? Is it wrong for the banker to refuse a loan because they manage their money like the federal government? Is it wrong for a parent to refuse their child candy because it will spoil their dinner? These are choices that have consequences. Jesus has a problem with this church because it won’t take holiness seriously and confront the worldliness in its membership. God help us.
I make the same request I asked a few Sundays ago. Pray often for a spirit of repentance for our church. Pray for your pastor and staff, deacons and Sunday School teachers to have a repentant spirit. Pray we will repent before Jesus has to deal with us.
Finally, …
III. CHRIST’S CHALLENGE TO THE CHURCH—BE TRUE TO THE LORD (REV. 2:24-29)
Notice in this passage he calls the faithful to be loyal to Jesus and be assured of overcoming.
(24) I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets of Satan” — as they say — I am not putting any other burden on you. (25) Only hold on to what you have until I come. (26) The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —(27) and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery —(28) just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. (29) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
A. Be loyal (v. 23-24).
The loyal have two characteristics. They refuse to give in to false teaching and they reject Satanic-inspired teaching. Many years ago, a young single woman came to faith in Christ. She was baptized and excited about Christ, but she was led away by a Satanically inspired falsehood. She told me that she was still going to the dancehalls and honky tonks with her friends. She wasn’t drinking. Her goal was to show her friends you can still have fun and not be caught up in the party life. Bob Hunter and I cautioned her that she was putting herself in the way of temptation. She didn’t listen to those who were her spiritual shepherds. Eventually, she shacked up with a man and abandoned the faith. Jesus is addressing a group of people in the church who held to the truth and lived it.
When I was in high school, I had an exercise device to strengthen my grip. Friend, I hope you are regularly exercising your grip. We live in a day when everything nailed down is coming loose. The U.S. Supreme Court redefined the definition of marriage that had existed for a millennium! Did you see the headline that the Associated Press was mocked and thought archaic for using the word “mistress”? If you believe this complex universe was designed by a Creator rather than a huge accident, you are a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal. There’s never been a day in our life when we needed to get a grip on our Bible and our Christian beliefs like today.
A little boy had a horse that was just an old nag. It was a sway back, flea-bitten animal. A man making fun of the old horse asked the little fellow, “Say, boy, can that horse run fast?” The boy answered, “No, sir, but he can stand fast.” We are in need of Christians who hold fast to the fundamental teachings of the Christian faith.
B. Be assured of victory (v. 26-29)
The person who displays genuine faith by persevering to the end receives two wonderful promises. The first is authority. Jesus says, (26) The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations —(27) and he will rule them with an iron scepter; he will shatter them like pottery.
This is a quote from Ps. 2:9. This psalm was used in the coronation of a new king. The rabbi’s also saw in it description of the coming Messiah. Basically, it states the enemies of the king will be destroyed completely if they live in rebellion to him. They will either know him as a caring shepherd or a conquering king. The intent was to encourage the people to submit and serve the king. It also predicted the Messiah ruling the nations.
If we were to visit the ancient churches of Greece and Turkey, the guide would tell you that the church building was built over a pagan temple. What was happening is that Christianity was sweeping away the destruction of paganism and one of the signs of their victory over those who martyred them was to build churches and chapels over the pagan temples. It may seem to us that this victory is being reversed as once great Christian universities are now centers of secularism and anti-Christian sentiment. The day once devoted to the worship of God is now a day of recreation and sports entertainment. Victory may appear to be far off, but, God can assert his authority swiftly and at any moment. This pandemic has shown us there are authorities greater than the whole world. One day we will be a part of Him establishing His authority over this world. Hold on.
Maybe there is a tender soul who is offended by this triumphant language. Do you think you would feel differently if you lived in China? They just threw your pastor in prison for several years, beat some of your members, and bordered up your church. Maybe if we lived such counter cultural lives that we experienced abuse for our faith, we might find these words hopeful and encouraging to remain faithful to Jesus.
The second wonderful promise is in v. 28-29: just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star. (29) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Scholars point to the fourth blessing of Balaam on Israel in Numbers 24:17. King Balak hired Balaam to pronounce a curse on Israel as it traveled to the Promised Land. Every time Balaam went to do so, God took over his mouth and out poured a blessing. Rabbis believed this Morning Star was the prediction of the Messiah to come who would rule the nations. Be true to the Lord and you will share in His authority and you will get the Messiah.
Would this be enough for you to deny yourself and hold on to Jesus? If the promise was to be faithful to Jesus now and you will get more of Him in the future, is that enough for you? Since this is not a just world, you may not get that good job or promotion. You may not get good health. You may not get the family you want or the marriage you want? You many not get your degree? However, if you remain true, you will get Jesus. If that’s all you get, He will be enough.
CONCLUSION
A common element in musical storytelling is the “I wish” song. The musical will start with a song in which the main character states what the wish is that he or she would like to see filled. In Snow White’s first scene, she appears and sings “I’m Wishing” in which she states her desire to be found by the one she loves. “The Little Mermaid” begins her story by singing, “I wanna be where the people are…” In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s story begins in black and white as she sings “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” All of these songs set up the plot of the story as the audience sets back to watch the fulfillment of these desires.
There’s something inexpressibly satisfying about the fulfillment of a desire. Psalm 145 says, “You satisfy the desire of every living thing.” What if the plot line to your story is “I wish” fulfillment? Ps. 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Think on that. If you delight yourself in the LORD, then the only thing that can satisfy your desires is the LORD. The psalmist continues. If you desire God, you will get God.
Do you know what happens to Dorothy at the end of the Wizard of Oz? She changes her tune. She’s no longer singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Now she says, “There’s no place like home.” Her desires where transformed. She discovered something more satisfying.
When you wish for Jesus, you will discover yourself being transformed in your desires. You will want to bless those who persecute you, consider others better than yourself, and long to be holy as God is holy. Holiness is the indispensable mark of the Christian church. I know of only one thing great enough to produce this in our lives: Jesus; longing for Jesus; finding our satisfaction in Jesus.
Friends, it is true that God is love and he loves you. It is equally true that God is holy and pure. Surely, you don’t believe He is going to deny His holiness and allow Christ-rejecting sinners to walk the streets of gold? That’s a deformed god and not the God of the Bible.
He calls us to repent of sin. He tells us that we must yield our life to Him as the one true God. That’s good news. For sinners who do this are permitted to walk the streets of gold.
Pray this prayer….
Christian, look at what it cost God’s Son to deal with your sin and make you holy before the Father. Your prayer this morning is what must I do to be more like You, Holy Spirit?
PRAYER
Our prayer is that of the psalmist in 139:23-24: Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns. (24) See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.
Cleanse our inner thoughts. Reveal our true motives behind our actions and attitudes. Don’t let us stubbornly resist the Holy Spirit’s gentle but deep probing. We must have more than perception. We must have passion and perseverance until You give us new desires of holiness. We look to You for help. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
