[The following is the full manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 21st of February, 2016. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Today we continue our Lent-inspired self-examination by focusing on the fourth church of Revelation. Our hope and prayer is that this period of reflection and study will reveal the church that God wants us to be, and any steps we need to take to get to that goal.
So far we’ve looked at the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos. While each congregation had its strong points, only the church in Smyrna escaped any criticism from our Lord. Pergamos especially was singled out, because of how much they compromised their values with the world.
Today we’ll look at what many feel to be the worst of the seven churches, as far as what they did wrong. Listen and follow along to what Jesus had to say to the church in Thyatira, as recorded by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation chapter 2 verses 18 through 29, from the New King James Version of our Bible…
So far we’ve looked at the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos. While each congregation had its strong points, only the church in Smyrna escaped any criticism from our Lord. Pergamos especially was singled out, because of how much they compromised their values with the world.
Today we’ll look at what many feel to be the worst of the seven churches, as far as what they did wrong. Listen and follow along to what Jesus had to say to the church in Thyatira, as recorded by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation chapter 2 verses 18 through 29, from the New King James Version of our Bible…
18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write,
‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 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. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 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.
24 “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. 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.
29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
--Revelation 2:18-29 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, please block out all the noises of the world so that we might hear and understand the message You have for us this day. Help us recognize where we are in our walk and show us how to get to where You want us to be, Lord, as individuals and as members of this Pilgrim church family. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Retired Methodist Pastor Rodney Buchanan wrote the following in 2005:
One of my favorite cartoon strips is “Frank and Earnest.” Frank is in the courtroom standing before the judge who says to him, “It’s ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty.’ You can’t plead ‘I gotta be me.’” The cartoon is humorous because it touches a reality in our culture which places the need for self-expression above the need for morality, integrity and honor. I often think about the fact that Jesus warned His followers to beware of the “wicked and adulterous generation” in which they lived. And then I wonder what He would call our generation which has long passed the simple immorality of His day into acts of violence, sexual addictions and perversions that had never been thought of then, and around which we have built many of our television programs and movies. And yet, we have an aversion to calling anything sin these days.
As Pastor Buchanan alludes to, our society has gone way beyond tolerance. According to a study conducted in 2008, 65% of men, 48% of women, 36% of fathers, and 20% of mothers agreed that pornography was an acceptable way for someone to express their sexuality. As a result, many men don’t know how to have a relationship and women wanting a relationship seem to adopt the male point-of-view on porn.
What was once unthinkable has become commonplace. Do you remember when Rob and Laura Petrie always wore pajamas and slept in separate twin beds? TV commercials today, aired at any and all hours, show scenes that would have made Rob and Laura blush.
There’s an Arabian proverb that says, "If a camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow." Well, folks, the camel stuck his nose into Western culture some years back and now there is no more room in the tent for Christ. The “I gotta be me” mentality that Pastor Buchanan mentioned permeates our society to such a degree that almost anything is considered acceptable now. The need for self-expression comes from the trend of self-absorption. Too many folks think the universe revolves around them and that they should be able to do anything they want to do. They used to finish that line with, “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone”, but that no longer seems to matter either.
“Tolerance” is the buzzword of our too liberal culture. It seems we are now supposed to be tolerant of anything and everything except intolerance, which has no place in modern society! While there are some good aspects of being tolerant, such as when it comes to forgiveness and loving others, it can be taken too far. And this is exactly the fault Jesus finds with the church in Thyatira – they have taken tolerance to the extreme.
Like the messages to the other churches, this one starts out by identifying its author, commends the church for the good stuff, reprimands it for the bad, tells it what it needs to do, and what it can expect to receive based on its future actions. But this time, everything is a bit more serious.
Jesus seems to want to put the fear of the Lord into the hearts of the church family immediately, by declaring that this message comes straight from the Son of God. This is the only time in the seven letters that He uses that reference: the Son of God. He says His eyes are like a flame of fire, burning everything in their path, boring straight into the hearts of man. His feet are like fine brass, able to crush anything underfoot.
Like He said to the church in Ephesus, Jesus points out that He is aware of the works of the church of Thyatira. Unlike the Ephesians, who had lost that fire of first love, the Thyatirans actually increased their service and devotion to the Lord.
But then things turn bad in a hurry. This family has allowed someone to come in among them, a woman who claims to be a prophetess, who teaches that it is OK to commit immoral acts and practice forms of idolatry. They’ve not only allowed this to happen, but many have accepted and started following these teachings. The woman has been given every opportunity to repent of her evil ways and refuses to do so. She condemns herself, and all those who follow her example are condemned as well unless they repent and turn completely from this wickedness.
But those in the church family who do not accept these teachings and do not follow these sinful ways, Jesus will not lay any further burden or punishment on them. They are to hold fast in their faith until He returns, at which time He will share His power and dominion with them.
This, in a nutshell, is the content of the harshest pronouncement Jesus made on the seven churches. But we need to look a little more closely at a few points, because this letter definitely applies to the Christian church in America today.
Jesus mentions the name “Jezebel” as the woman who has effectively causing the downfall of this church, but she should not be confused with the same “Jezebel” of 1st and 2nd Kings in the Old Testament. Rather, this is more of what we refer to as a “Jezebel spirit”. This is a mindset that mirrors the acts and deeds and beliefs of that original Jezebel, infamous for her sexual immorality and for how she worshiped idols and false gods. This is the spirit that has crept into the Christian church all across this land, the camel that stuck his nose in our tent. This is what you hear expressed in words like, “The times have changed; we have to change with the times.” “God is a loving God - He won’t really condemn anyone if He loves us.” “Once saved always saved, so you can do anything you want as long as you believe in Jesus.” “I know God will understand; I only have this one little vice, and I don’t think I could get through this life without it.”
This Jezebel spirit tells us it’s OK to sell out our Christian principles in order to fit in our modern society, as long as we still believe in Jesus. You see, part of the problem in Thyatira was the prominence of the local trade guilds. Basically, you would struggle to do business in town if you weren’t a member of one of the guilds. But these guilds all had their own false god they worshiped and that led to feasts and festivities that usually included all manner of sexual debauchery. So the Christians there were torn between trying to stay true to Jesus and His teachings while making a decent living.
We can relate to that today, can’t we? Don’t many folks have the same problem? God says, “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy”, but how many folks do you know that have no choice of whether to work on Sunday or not? Of course, some who do go to church on Sundays practice all kinds of meanness and wickedness during the week, because that’s how modern society functions. As in the church in Thyatira, too many today think that our freedom in Christ permits us to do just about anything we need or want to do in order to fit in.
And one last clarification about Jesus’ message here. When He mentions adultery, He not only means that physical act of a sexual relationship between two people that are married, but not to each other. He is also pointing to spiritual adultery, or idolatry. If we truly consider the church to be the “bride of Jesus”, then if we worship some other god, we are committing adultery against our Father God. And please remember that false gods need not be made of stone or gold. Anything that we give most of our time and love and resources to, anything we give more of ourselves to than to God, no matter what that thing is, it can be the object of our worship – our idol.
These were the harshest words Jesus had to say to any of the churches, and family, He says them to His church today.
Just as He told those in Ephesus and Pergamos, Jesus’ instruction to the church family in Thyatira that tolerates and accepts this Jezebel spirit is simply to repent. Family, if we recognize ourselves in any of these messages, and especially in this one today, then we need to do as Jesus warns and repent. We need to turn completely away from doing what we know is wrong, what our Bible tells us is wrong, and turn fully back to God our Father and follow only Jesus Christ His Son. We need to stop being tolerant of what we know is sinful in God’s eyes. We need to take a stand for righteousness.
Everything Jesus said to the church in Thyatira is true today, and especially what He promises in verses 23 and 25. “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.” When will Jesus do this, when will He give to each of us according to what we deserve? When He returns to earth. And when He comes back, it will be to judge, because that is God’s will.
Listen to what Jesus says in the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 5, verses 22 through 30…
Retired Methodist Pastor Rodney Buchanan wrote the following in 2005:
One of my favorite cartoon strips is “Frank and Earnest.” Frank is in the courtroom standing before the judge who says to him, “It’s ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty.’ You can’t plead ‘I gotta be me.’” The cartoon is humorous because it touches a reality in our culture which places the need for self-expression above the need for morality, integrity and honor. I often think about the fact that Jesus warned His followers to beware of the “wicked and adulterous generation” in which they lived. And then I wonder what He would call our generation which has long passed the simple immorality of His day into acts of violence, sexual addictions and perversions that had never been thought of then, and around which we have built many of our television programs and movies. And yet, we have an aversion to calling anything sin these days.
As Pastor Buchanan alludes to, our society has gone way beyond tolerance. According to a study conducted in 2008, 65% of men, 48% of women, 36% of fathers, and 20% of mothers agreed that pornography was an acceptable way for someone to express their sexuality. As a result, many men don’t know how to have a relationship and women wanting a relationship seem to adopt the male point-of-view on porn.
What was once unthinkable has become commonplace. Do you remember when Rob and Laura Petrie always wore pajamas and slept in separate twin beds? TV commercials today, aired at any and all hours, show scenes that would have made Rob and Laura blush.
There’s an Arabian proverb that says, "If a camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow." Well, folks, the camel stuck his nose into Western culture some years back and now there is no more room in the tent for Christ. The “I gotta be me” mentality that Pastor Buchanan mentioned permeates our society to such a degree that almost anything is considered acceptable now. The need for self-expression comes from the trend of self-absorption. Too many folks think the universe revolves around them and that they should be able to do anything they want to do. They used to finish that line with, “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone”, but that no longer seems to matter either.
“Tolerance” is the buzzword of our too liberal culture. It seems we are now supposed to be tolerant of anything and everything except intolerance, which has no place in modern society! While there are some good aspects of being tolerant, such as when it comes to forgiveness and loving others, it can be taken too far. And this is exactly the fault Jesus finds with the church in Thyatira – they have taken tolerance to the extreme.
Like the messages to the other churches, this one starts out by identifying its author, commends the church for the good stuff, reprimands it for the bad, tells it what it needs to do, and what it can expect to receive based on its future actions. But this time, everything is a bit more serious.
Jesus seems to want to put the fear of the Lord into the hearts of the church family immediately, by declaring that this message comes straight from the Son of God. This is the only time in the seven letters that He uses that reference: the Son of God. He says His eyes are like a flame of fire, burning everything in their path, boring straight into the hearts of man. His feet are like fine brass, able to crush anything underfoot.
Like He said to the church in Ephesus, Jesus points out that He is aware of the works of the church of Thyatira. Unlike the Ephesians, who had lost that fire of first love, the Thyatirans actually increased their service and devotion to the Lord.
But then things turn bad in a hurry. This family has allowed someone to come in among them, a woman who claims to be a prophetess, who teaches that it is OK to commit immoral acts and practice forms of idolatry. They’ve not only allowed this to happen, but many have accepted and started following these teachings. The woman has been given every opportunity to repent of her evil ways and refuses to do so. She condemns herself, and all those who follow her example are condemned as well unless they repent and turn completely from this wickedness.
But those in the church family who do not accept these teachings and do not follow these sinful ways, Jesus will not lay any further burden or punishment on them. They are to hold fast in their faith until He returns, at which time He will share His power and dominion with them.
This, in a nutshell, is the content of the harshest pronouncement Jesus made on the seven churches. But we need to look a little more closely at a few points, because this letter definitely applies to the Christian church in America today.
Jesus mentions the name “Jezebel” as the woman who has effectively causing the downfall of this church, but she should not be confused with the same “Jezebel” of 1st and 2nd Kings in the Old Testament. Rather, this is more of what we refer to as a “Jezebel spirit”. This is a mindset that mirrors the acts and deeds and beliefs of that original Jezebel, infamous for her sexual immorality and for how she worshiped idols and false gods. This is the spirit that has crept into the Christian church all across this land, the camel that stuck his nose in our tent. This is what you hear expressed in words like, “The times have changed; we have to change with the times.” “God is a loving God - He won’t really condemn anyone if He loves us.” “Once saved always saved, so you can do anything you want as long as you believe in Jesus.” “I know God will understand; I only have this one little vice, and I don’t think I could get through this life without it.”
This Jezebel spirit tells us it’s OK to sell out our Christian principles in order to fit in our modern society, as long as we still believe in Jesus. You see, part of the problem in Thyatira was the prominence of the local trade guilds. Basically, you would struggle to do business in town if you weren’t a member of one of the guilds. But these guilds all had their own false god they worshiped and that led to feasts and festivities that usually included all manner of sexual debauchery. So the Christians there were torn between trying to stay true to Jesus and His teachings while making a decent living.
We can relate to that today, can’t we? Don’t many folks have the same problem? God says, “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy”, but how many folks do you know that have no choice of whether to work on Sunday or not? Of course, some who do go to church on Sundays practice all kinds of meanness and wickedness during the week, because that’s how modern society functions. As in the church in Thyatira, too many today think that our freedom in Christ permits us to do just about anything we need or want to do in order to fit in.
And one last clarification about Jesus’ message here. When He mentions adultery, He not only means that physical act of a sexual relationship between two people that are married, but not to each other. He is also pointing to spiritual adultery, or idolatry. If we truly consider the church to be the “bride of Jesus”, then if we worship some other god, we are committing adultery against our Father God. And please remember that false gods need not be made of stone or gold. Anything that we give most of our time and love and resources to, anything we give more of ourselves to than to God, no matter what that thing is, it can be the object of our worship – our idol.
These were the harshest words Jesus had to say to any of the churches, and family, He says them to His church today.
Just as He told those in Ephesus and Pergamos, Jesus’ instruction to the church family in Thyatira that tolerates and accepts this Jezebel spirit is simply to repent. Family, if we recognize ourselves in any of these messages, and especially in this one today, then we need to do as Jesus warns and repent. We need to turn completely away from doing what we know is wrong, what our Bible tells us is wrong, and turn fully back to God our Father and follow only Jesus Christ His Son. We need to stop being tolerant of what we know is sinful in God’s eyes. We need to take a stand for righteousness.
Everything Jesus said to the church in Thyatira is true today, and especially what He promises in verses 23 and 25. “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.” When will Jesus do this, when will He give to each of us according to what we deserve? When He returns to earth. And when He comes back, it will be to judge, because that is God’s will.
Listen to what Jesus says in the Gospel account of the Apostle John, chapter 5, verses 22 through 30…
22 "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."
--John 5:22-30 (NKJV)
God has handed over all judgment to His Son Jesus. And His judgment will be righteous, with those who have done good being resurrected to everlasting life while those who have done evil are resurrected to eternal condemnation. First He will judge Satan and evil men and all will be destroyed and cast into the lake of fire. Then He will judge all mankind.
The Apostle Matthew recorded this promise Jesus made, in chapter 25 of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 34 and 41…
The Apostle Matthew recorded this promise Jesus made, in chapter 25 of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 34 and 41…
31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world...
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels...’”
--Matthew 25:31-34, 41 (NKJV)
Don’t think we get off easy. Jesus will also judge His church. In Revelation chapter 20, verse 12, we read…
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
--Revelation 20:12 (NKJV)
Judgment is coming. And we’ll get what we deserve.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, we fear that we have become too tolerant in accepting the ways of the world into our lives and into our worship. We allow the current culture to dictate how we should spend our time and our resources, how we should treat or mistreat others, how we define good and bad. Forgive us, Father, for those times when we fail to put You first. Forgive us when we give of ourselves to false gods and worship idols, when we put the needs of the flesh ahead of the needs of our eternal souls, when we simply follow the crowd rather than taking a stand for what is moral and righteous.
Hear us now, Father, as we silently approach Your throne, repenting and seeking Your forgiveness, pleading for Your help…
Dear Jesus, You have shown us those ways in which we are indeed righteous in Your eyes. Help us continue those ways and to hold fast to our belief and service until You return. But Lord, You have also warned us of our failings, and we stand convicted by God’s Holy Spirit of those things we do which are wrong. Help us to repent, blessed Lord, and follow only the path that leads to righteousness. In Your perfect and blessed name, Lord Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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