This morning we come to the letter from Jesus to the church at Thyatira. This church did SOME things really well. They were a loving church. They were a faith-filled church.  They may have seen miracles, and moved mountains. They were a serving church. Maybe they fed the poor and needy.  Those were good things!  But they had a massive problem. They tolerated someone, in the church who taught a deadly error.  

The issue Jesus had against the church in Pergamum was that some held to a teaching that compromised with the world in sexual immorality and in idolatry. Jesus said, you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam and the teaching of the Nicholatans.  In Thyatira the issue Jesus had with them, was that they tolerated A TEACHER. There was a person right in the church, teaching these same deadly doctrines.  These two churches had similar errors, but with that difference. 

It’s one thing to deal with a teaching coming from outside the church. It’s another to have a prominent person right IN the church, teaching a dangerous message. So why did they tolerate Jezebel, rather than confront her and stop her! The answer to that is easy..

It’s hard to confront anybody about anything!  And she may have been a part of the church family for a long time. She was probably a very gifted and influential person.  She probably had some good qualities!  And if you confront a person in the church, people take sides. It creates turmoil. So the church at Thyatira took the easy way out and ‘tolerated” her. This was a bad idea. But that’s what they did!

Sometimes standing up for God’s truth means standing against what a friend, or family member, or a church member is believing or teaching. And that’s not easy, but our loyalty to Christ HAS to supersede every other relationship.   

This should have been an easy call! Her teaching was WAY off. She advocated eating food knowingly and publicly offered to idols, AND participating in the sexual immorality that was part of Thyatira’s pagan social life. 

So this letter isn’t a call to accuse everybody of being a false teacher who doesn’t agree with you. But it is a call to stand up and stop teaching that undermines core gospel truths, like personal holiness and sexual purity. Which is precisely the point of compromise the church is dealing with right now.

There is some background information that will help us understand this letter.  Thyatira was a commercial center for clothing and textiles.  In Acts we read about Lydia, a wealthy business woman from Thyatira, who sold purple fabrics.  

The businesses there were organized into trade guilds. (These were professional associations of people in the same business) Ancient inscriptions show there were trade guilds of bakers, copper-smiths, tanners, leather workers, wool workers, and others in Thyatira. And their business and social life was dominated by these trade guilds. These guilds had membership dues, set wages and prices. And only guild members were allowed to sell their goods or practice their trade within the city.    

The problem for Christians, was that these guilds held regular feasts or parties.  And the food for these feasts was offered to one of their pagan gods. Then these feasts were followed by some kind of sexual immorality, whether with temple prostitutes or with other guild members after their feast. This was a normal part of their social life.

So to abstain from the idol worship and sexual immorality, made followers of Jesus social outcasts.  AND it meant loss of business, or employment. When those is power say do this, or lose your job, it puts enormous pressure on people.

So if someone in the church stood up and  prophesied that it acually IS okay for believers to go along with the program, that would be quite tempting. It would relieve all the social pressure. It would allow them to stay in business or keep their job.   

Jezebel’s teaching probably went something like this. A Christian cannot sin. No matter what the flesh does, the Christian himself or herself is sinless.  Robert Thomas said, “The idea crept into the NT church that a believer’s spirituality was unaffected by what they did with their body.”   

Satan had laid a clever trap for this church. He raised up someone within the church to tell them they could go ahead and participate in these pagan meals and sexual immorality and not harm themselves spiritually. 

But Jesus said to this church, “Repent of tolerating this woman and her teaching, or SEVERE discipline, even sickness and death, will come upon you.”  BUT..For those who have not held to this false teaching, His message was “Hold fast what you have until I come.”   

Alright, let’s go to beginning of this letter: Jesus begins this letter by saying these are the words of the Son of God.  And then describing Himself as the One “who has eyes like a flame of fire”.  That image communicates something piercing and powerful, fiery and fierce. It communicates the power of Jesus to search minds and hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. There is no cover up.  No one ever fools Jesus. 

He goes on, “and whose feet are like burnished bronze.” This is more of the same imagery, to emphasize His holiness and burning zeal. Jesus is someone you listen to with fear and trembling.  And there’s a reason for these fiery images.  He hates what is going on in this church and He wants them to feel the power of His words and to fear His discipline. So that they would repent and be free from this error and the consequences of that.  

But before He addresses the serious problem in this church, He wants them to know He is fully aware of the good they are doing. Verse 19“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.”  There was love in this church. There was faith in this church. They served people. They were enduring trials and persecution. And they were doing all this better and better as time went on. This was a REALLY good church in a lot of ways.  So what could be wrong in a church like that!?

Verse 20 Jesus said, “I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”     

They tolerate something terrible in the church, a woman named Jezebel in the church and what she teaches. She calls herself a prophetess. She claimed a gift of the Spirit and used that to impress others that she was somebody special. The problem isn’t that she’s a woman, it’s not the gift of prophecy, the problem was her agenda to use her claim of that gift to lead people into sin.  

Jesus said, “She is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality”  Everywhere we look today churches are tolerating this slide into new forms of sexual immorality and perversion. Pastors or people in these churches often say, well we don’t promote that, or that’s not in our doctrinal statement. But the problem is they TOLERATE it!  They won’t teach against it. Or confront it. They let it go in the name of love or in the name of reaching people.  You can see from the attitude of Jesus that He wouldn’t put up with that at all!!    

Here’s a problem: Churches can use their strengths as kind of a shield against correction for the deep problems or false teaching that are being tolerated. But we can’t do that! We can’t say we are a loving church, so we are good. Or we serve our community so you can’t criticize us. Or we have faith, we’re seeing God heal and do amazing things here, so that’s our seal of approval on all that’s going on here. But we can’t do that! We can take individual qualities that we have and use them as a protective shield against needed correction from the Lord Jesus Christ or from fellow members of the body of Christ.  

Why do churches tolerate the teaching of Jezebel? Or teaching like that?  Because it removes the cost of discipleship. It relieves us of taking up our cross. It removes the sigma of being a follower of Jesus. It’s so intoxicating to have the world’s approval. And to so easy to conform to the sexual norms of the world.  And it’s hard to keep swimming against the tide.  But that’s what we’re called to do!

And there’s a problem with the easy way out. And that’s pretty clear from this letter! Jesus will deal fiercely with willful unrepentant sin in the church. I don’t consider that the easy way out!  I’d rather have people be critical of us than have Jesus be critical of us.   

21 “I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality.” In some way Jesus had called this woman to repent. Maybe directly through the conviction of the Spirit. Or maybe through somebody in the church.  Regardless, she’s had time, and she’s hardened her heart, and refused to repent.

Verse 22 So.. “Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works.” This is strong language!  Jesus is going to put her down, with a serious illness. He’s going to put her out of commission, and stop her teaching. And he threatens HEAVY affliction for those who commit spiritual adultery with her.  So the lesson for us here is plain a day.

We need to be careful who you join yourself to spiritually. They might be somebody Jesus is against! BE CAREFUL WHO YOU FOLLOW. Who you listen to. Whose podcast you subscribe to.  Whose books you read. 

But He adds, severe tribulation is coming for some in this church, “UNLESS they repent of what they are doing.” Even as deep as some were into this immorality Jesus STILL gives them a way out, through repentance! Repentance is a good thing! Repentance is what will liberate this church from this severe discipline that Jesus said would come upon them.  Repentance gives life, it brings refreshing from the Lord, it restores joy, AND it delivers us from danger and discipline.

Paul said, if we judged ourselves we will not be judged. IE If we make self corrections, if we make our own spiritual adjustments, as the Lord shows us things, then we won’t face these kind of harsher discipline from the Lord.

Then Jesus continues His warning with even more severity. He said “and I will strike her children dead.” Our reaction might be, Jesus please don’t talk like that. Don’t say that. That’s not the kind of Jesus we want. But he tells us His purpose for this severity...

Verse 23 “And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.”  I will deal with Jezebel and those who continue to follow her with such severity that the churches will all hear about it. They’ll know I’m fully aware of everyone’s secret life. AND that I WILL deal with unrepentant, willful, continuing sin. 

Jesus wants a sober church, a church that is fearful of sinning, a church that doesn’t get mixed up with false teaching. Does that describe you? Does it describe us?  Are you living with a healthy fear of the Lord, and a sense of reverence and awe of the Lord Jesus Christ. And using that as a safeguard to keep us from these things?

Then verse 24 “But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden.” Those who didn’t hold to Jezebel’s teaching DO have one the burden that is to stop tolerating her. But that is the ONLY burden Jesus has for them.  

The faithful believers at Thyatira have not learned “the deep things of Satan”. The idea has always been around that you have to know the deep things of Satan to know the deep things of God. Or that you have to know evil, to know good. Or you have to go sin a lot so you’ll have a good testimony!  

I’ve heard pastors say you need to see all the current movies, regardless of the depth of depravity and sexual filth, so that you can relate to our culture. Just seeing the filth won’t hurt you. It will really help you in your witness for Jesus. I think that same kind of thinking or principle was at work in Thyatira.  

Then Jesus has a word to those who HAVEN’T known the deep things of Satan. Verse 25 “Only hold fast what you have until I come.”  Jesus taught a rugged, enduring faithfulness!  If you are doing well, keep doing well, NOT for a few months or years, but “until I come!!!”    

You can go do a lot of good things, even great things. But in the end, what matters is: did you hold fast to the end. Is this the way you are thinking about your life? I was at a Navigator conference where I was told 10 years from now most people here will not be faithfully walking with God. That was very sobering!  But it did have the effect of motivating me to run my race clear to the finish.  

Are you preparing for a life of long obedience. Are you preparing mentally to endure suffering, opposition, the drama, grief and weariness of life to be true to Jesus till He comes?  Hebrews.  3:6 We ARE His house, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope FIRM UNTIL THE END.”  

But WHY? Why endure the work, the trouble, the pressures, the stigma, of being true to Jesus to the end? That’s what He tells us in verse 26, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.”  The message Jesus has to the church is, “Remain faithful because I offer glory and honor, in the age to come, for enduring our present trials.”  Jesus rewards faithful service!!  Your current experience may be pain and suffering, testing, but when Jesus comes and establishes His kingdom you WILL be rewarded. And your reward will be WAY out of proportion to anything you went through in this present life.

Verse 27 “and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.” This is a quote from Psalm 2 about the Messiah ruling the nations with a rod of iron. But HERE Jesus applies it to the one who conquers.  In the coming Kingdom Jesus will share His authority with the saints. Michael Vlach  “In an ironic reversal of circumstances those who were persecuted, will rule!”

Daniel 7:27 “Then the sovereignty, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, to the saints of the Most High. And His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey Him.”

The hymn of worship to the Lamb in Revelation 5:10 says,  “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth." 

The scripture is unmistakable: Our role in the age to come, is of active reigning and ruling, judging the angels, having positions of responsibility and authority. How different from the concept of heaven being a place of sitting on a cloud, with doing nothing forever!   

Then this added blessing is given to the one who conquers. Verse 28 “And I will give him the morning star.”  Stars were associated with royalty, glory and victory. In Revelation 22:16 Jesus said, “I am the Root and Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.” That means he is “majestic and lifted on high” (Got Questions) Lenski, said, “The Victorious King Jesus is the bright morning star in royal splendor, and he gives to every believer the gift to share in His royal splendor.” 

It’s an amazing future that we have before us. The kind of glory and honor and authority that is described for us is really stunning. I hope you know the reward of the age to come because that is what is supposed to spur you on, and get you through the trouble and toil and pain and grief of this life. 

Jesus wants you to know: The way to the Kingdom of God is hard but the rewards are phenomenal. And let the promises to those who conquer, infuse you with courage, and strength and endurance to overcome everything Satan puts in your path on your way to the Heavenly City. 

Then verse 29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This message was directed to the believers who assembled in Thyatira but all churches are to hear this message and take it seriously. 

                                  ***********

What is our takeaway from this morning? 

*Jesus clearly wants us to be sober, and to fear the danger and the discipline that can come from getting mixed up with sexual immorality and false teaching. He wants us to walk carefully! And that’s for our own good, out own safety and for our own joy! 

*Jesus wants you to be faithful and true, until He comes. “Hold fast till I come.” It would be a really good idea to remember those words. You may go through something soon, where you need them.    

*Jesus wants you to conquer!  He wants you to conquer so you will reap the massive blessings and rewards that He has for the one who conquers.  So overcome all the obstacles, threats and dangers to your faith, on your way to the Heavenly City. Conquer NOW and you will reap the phenomenal rewards of the ages to come.