Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2. Revelation 2, as we continue looking at the letters to the churches in Asia Minor. Picking up the letter to Thyatira this evening. This was the smallest city of the seven, but the longest letter.
Its sole claim to fame was its trade, if you remember from Acts 16. Lydia was a seller of purple fabrics, and she hailed from the city of Thyatira. There were many trade guilds for all the various merchants and tradesmen. They each had patron deities in their local chapters there.
Sophia Tyra was a community steeped in paganism. Also, there would have been some unbelieving Jews in the particular city, so the Christians there had some difficulty, to be sure, in dealing faithfully and earnestly for the cause of the gospel. I'll just pick up reading in Revelation 2 at verse 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.
I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience, and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 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. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed. and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
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. 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. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.
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. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank you for the Holy Scripture, and we just pray now for your Spirit to guide us and direct us, and yea, Father, to convince, reprove, exhort, and instruct us in all righteousness, so that we may, as individual Christians and as a local church, step it up and live in a manner that is consistent with your Gospel. God, do forgive us for our sin.
Do forgive us for our departure from the written Word, and grant us grace, Lord God Most High, to repent, to forsake sin, and truly to glorify and honor you in this world. We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, as we have noted going through these letters thus far, they all follow a similar pattern. There is an identification or self-description given by the Lord Jesus to the church. Then he commends the church if they have things commendable, as this church does. And then he condemns them or sets forth those areas that are lacking in their local church or in their specific context.
And then he threatens, in this particular instance, to bring punishment in verses 22 and 23 if there was no repentance on the part of the people. And then he ends by giving them an exhortation in verses 24 to 29.
Christ's Self-Description
Let's pick up the self-description in verse 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. He refers to himself here as the Son of God, probably because he ends this letter with a reference to Psalm 2. Verse 27 is a quote from Psalm 2.
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. So he introduces himself as the Son of God. He goes on to describe himself as having Eyes like a flame of fire.
This comes out of his description in chapter 1 at verse 14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. He is the omniscient one, probably the reference here. He is omniscient.
He sees each and everything that goes on in his local churches. And we see that here in verse 19. I know your works, he says. Verse 20, nevertheless, I have a few things against you.
He is conscious of the fact that they are doing well, but they have also departed in some degree. And then in verse 23, very specifically, I will kill their 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. When we gather here on the Lord's Day, or when we profess faith in Jesus Christ, it is to Him that we answer.
In other words, when we do not function in the manner prescribed in the word of God, the one who sees and observes it is Christ himself. Now certainly if we are, you know, slugs in our home, our wives see that. Or if we are not engaged in service in terms of church life, or we are not engaged in good works, other people certainly will witness those things, but the one with whom we have to do ultimately is Jesus Christ. His eye is upon us.
He is the one who searches. He is the one that sees those things that we do, and he will render to each one according to his words. Albert Barnes comments, he says, before the glance of his eye, all is light, and nothing can be concealed from his view. Nothing would be better suited to inspire awe then, as nothing should be now, than such a reference to the Son of God as being able to penetrate the secret recesses of the heart.
Christ is coming to Thyatira to expose some heresy, or to expose the toleration of heresy. And so he highlights this important factor of his character. He has eyes like a flame of fire. And before we pass on, let me just encourage you again to think like this.
When you sin, it's not just the people you sin against that sees it or feels it. It is the Lord who bought you with a price. It is the Lord who governs His church. The church is supposed to reflect His glory.
It's supposed to be like a trophy case. wherein His glory is displayed. That's the whole thrust in Ephesians chapter 3. God has designed to promote His glory through the life of local churches. And when we don't do what the Thyatiran church did, when we don't engage in good works or in love or in service, when we don't do those things that Christ calls us to, it's Him that sees it.
It's him that's angry. It's him that is grieved. It's him that takes notice of this. And then he describes himself thirdly this way, and his feet like fine brass.
In Revelation 19.15, this is a reference to Christ's judgment. So Christ doesn't just come and say, you know guys, I hope that you'll get your act together, but if you don't, well there's nothing really I can do about it. No, Christ, when he threatens, can carry out his specific threat. And the threatened judgment here is the casting Jezebel into a sick bed and killing her children with death.
That's how God deals with heresy in church. You know, you think that some churches are harsh when they carry out church discipline for heresy. Well, Christ threatens to kill Jezebel and those who would follow her in the church in Thyatira. So the Son of God with eyes like a flame of fire and with feet like fine brass.
Hopefully, He has gained the attention of the church in Thyatira to give Him their ears. And hopefully he has gained our attention for us to give him our ears.
Christ's Commendation
Notice, secondly, his commendation in verse 19. There's five elements here. The first is works.
Works and Growth
I know your works. And not only works, but works times two. Remember, we're not saved by works. We're saved for works.
We're saved so that we would be a people zealous for good works, according to Titus. According to Ephesians 2, verse 10. We're saved by grace, through faith. It's a gift from God.
It's not of works, lest any of us should boast. But we have been saved for good works. We should walk in that. Those that God created beforehand, that we should engage in.
Notice in verse 19. I know your works, and then he mentions love, service, faith, and patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. They not only had works, but they were progressing in it.
They were moving forward. And I think, or I fear, this is one of the most difficult things about corporate church life, is to be moving. It's far too easy to stagnate. It's far too easy to just get comfortable.
It's far too easy just to sort of take root and never move. It's far too easy, not only corporately, but individually as well. Perhaps we first get saved and we're zealous for good works, we do a lot of things for the glory of Christ, and then we start to fizzle out, and then we start to reckon, well, I'm not in hell, so it must be okay for me to not be what I once was. Jesus hasn't judged me.
He hasn't cast me into a sickbed. He hasn't killed me. He hasn't destroyed me. He must be okay with this minimal performance in the Christian life.
Again, just so I'm not misunderstood, it's not minimal performance in order to be saved. We are saved by grace, but we are called to work, and we are called to work hard. If the church is to function as a display case for the glory of God Most High, we cannot be stagnant, we cannot rest upon our laurels, we cannot rest and just not do anything. This church is to be commended for their works.
And then he says Aspyr works, the last, are more than the first. Not only were they commended for working, but also they were increasing in the amount of work engaged in for the Lord. Progressive growth is needful in Christianity. And that progressive growth may not be by great leaps and bounds.
I mean, a Christian life shouldn't look like this. It should look like this, ultimately. It should be pressing onward, going forward. Doing those things the Lord has called us to do.
If we begin to taper off, we learn from these letters that the Lord Jesus bids us repent. So we repent and we get back on track. We don't just lament what we used to be and now we're just slugs for the kingdom now. No, we do what we're supposed to do.
It's easy to get down on ourselves or it's really easy to get down on our church. A man just recently wrote a good blog post. I've been dipping into the blogosphere because there's some decent guys out there writing. And this one had this thing about paper pastors.
He was talking about how many people in churches talk about Piper and talk about D.A. Carson and talk about Driscoll and talk about, you know, all these celebrities. They're their pastors on paper. They're their pastors when it comes to being preached to, and learning, and growing.
But in the context of their own local church, they've sort of given up on it. Well, that's not the best thing for the local church, and I doubt any of those men would want that to be the case. They would hopefully encourage you to build up your church, to pray for your elders, to labor for your progress as a local body. See, the thing that I'm encouraged about in these letters to the churches in Asia Minor is that Jesus is full of grace and full of mercy and full of kindness.
Because I, for one, can read this stuff and say, wow, I am not what I ought to be. Forget it. That's not how Jesus deals. He doesn't come to Thyatira.
He doesn't come to Ephesus. He doesn't come to Sardis or Pergamos or Laodicea even and say, look, this is what you're not doing. Forget it. No, he bids them repent.
I mean, when we come to this text and it says, I know your works and we think to ourselves, when is the last time I did anything for Jesus? Now, just so you know, Words for Jesus aren't narrowly defined. We tend to think that unless I'm on the mission field in China, I'm not working for Jesus. No.
When you're functioning in the God-given role that you operate in, and you're doing it for the glory of the Lord, those are biblically sanctioned words. In Philippians chapter 4, Paul is speaking about his visit from Epaphroditus. The whole context of Philippians is Paul sitting in a prison cell. Remember, we ended the book of Acts in Acts 28, AD 60-62, Paul is in a Roman prison.
It's from there that he writes Philippians, along with Colossians and Philemon and Ephesians. Well, while he is there, the church in Philippi sends Epaphroditus to him to bring him food, to bring him gifts, not gold and silver, but gifts necessary to sustain his life. See, the government didn't provide three square meals for you when you were in the prison. If you didn't have friends or family, you wouldn't be in prison long because you'd starve to death.
So Paul is acknowledging the kindness of the church in dispatching Epaphroditus with these good gifts. Paul refers to Epaphroditus' service as liturgy, religious service, religious worship. Now had you been some distant bystander watching Epaphroditus, all you would have noted is that here's a man that cares about this other man and he's bringing him some food. God looks upon it and he sees it as a sweet-smelling sacrifice of religious worship.
So if as we are moving through this we say, you know, I haven't done anything for the glory of Christ, repent. Don't give up. Christ is not about give up. You're a loser.
He really isn't. I need this sermon, to be honest with you, because I want to give up sometimes.
Love and Service
Notice he says, secondly, I know your love. Love. The church, this church, is exactly the opposite of Ephesus. Remember what's happening in Ephesus?
Ephesus is taking the word of God and applying it to those who claim to be apostles and are not. Oh yeah, you lost your first love. You left your first love. Thyatira is a loving church, but they're actually tolerating heresy.
You see that in the midst of these churches. There's no perfect church. There is no perfect church on earth. That's what makes heaven so beautiful.
That's what makes heaven so glorious. That's why you ought to be longing for the New Jerusalem. Why you ought to be longing for what we find revealed in chapters 21 and 22 of Revelation. Nevertheless, this church in Thyatira loved.
They took seriously the message from this morning. Understanding being saved by precious blood, they feared God and they loved the brethren. They showed that love. They manifested that love.
They demonstrated that love. So much so that the searching eye of Christ saw it, and when he comes to deal with this church, he commends them for it. I know your love, he says to this church. He goes on thirdly and says, I know your service.
Your service. Albert Barnes again comments, the word would seem to include All the service which the church had rendered in the cause of religion. All which was the proper fruit of love, or which would be a carrying out of the principles of love to God and man. All the service which the church had rendered in the course of religion.
Service. Amy Carmichael said we're saved to serve. We're not saved to vegetate. We're not saved to stagnate.
We're not saved just to enjoy it for ourselves. We're saved to be like Jesus Christ. to make a difference in other people's lives, whether it's, you know, calling them out of darkness into marvelous light with the gospel. Obviously, God does it, but it's through the spoken word or whether it's just being nice to someone and listening to them or calling them or caring for them. Service.
That's what church life is all about. And it cannot be a one man show. It cannot be service by representation. We live in a compartmentalized society.
Don't we? If I want someone to cut my grass, I hire a gardener. Not any of us. We don't hire gardeners.
We tell our wives, go cut the grass. Hopefully we don't do that. Hopefully we... Brothers, don't do that.
And if you do, God be merciful to you. But just suppose for a moment we were all well-heeled and we had the money. We'd hire a gardener to do our gardening. We'd go see a specialist for the corn that's growing on our foot.
We'd go to the deli when we want meat. We'd go to the vegetable store when we... Everything's compartmentalized. And so we get into the church, we got a pastor!
He evangelizes. He talks to people about Jesus. He serves the saints. He does good works.
We're just here, man. That's our function. Who isn't? Now, the pastor may be more set apart for certain of those tasks, but church life is corporate.
It is a multifaceted body. And pastors don't have all the gifts. Pastors don't have all the abilities. Pastors are very, very narrow in many respects.
And without a full-body church, the church is going to be lopsided. You know, sometimes when we come to church, most of the people sit on one side or the other. It sort of feels like that. It could be that way spiritually, if we're not all actively participating in these things.
Faith and Patience
He goes on to commend their faith. I know your faith. That is a wonderful statement. And it's not just their subjective belief of the gospel.
I'm sorry, it's not just their objective belief in the gospel, but their subjective hold on it. That faith that promotes mighty exploits for God. That faith that is described in Hebrews 11. It's by faith, by faith, by faith that these men did what they did.
It's by faith the church in Thyatira has served. It's by faith the church in Thyatira has engaged in words. It's by faith the church in Thyatira loves one another. Paul in Galatians 5 says, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love.
James 2, the whole chapter, faith is the root from which good works flow. And then he commends them finally on their patience. Notice at the end of verse 19. And your patience.
The idea there is probably not that they had the ability to watch paint dry and they were commended for that trait. Very patient soul. Or they had a preacher that droned on for hours. I commend your patience.
The idea has to do with endurance. It has to do with constancy. It has to do with the theme that is replete in the book of Revelation, overcoming. They're going forward.
They've got issues, to be sure, and Jesus will address them on that. But when you survey the whole, they are a church that is constant. They endure. They are persevering.
That is the challenge, to persevere. Not to start. but to continue. There's a lot of churches that start and fizzle out. There's a lot of churches that begin and close down.
Anymore, it's not a lot of churches that are starting, persevering, and ending well for the glory of God Almighty. We need works. We need love. We need service, we need faith, we need patience.
If we have been found out, as we work through this list of commendable traits, instead of throwing in the towel, giving up, saying, I'll never be the kind of Christian that I ought to be, say, Lord God, forgive me. Cleanse me afresh in the blood of Jesus Christ, fill me with your grace, and give me a genuine desire to engage in these types of things. That's the purpose for these letters. It's not to lambast or shut down the churches.
It is to call them to faithfulness.
Christ's Condemnation
Notice, Jesus' condemnation of the church, verses 20 and 21. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you. This is where it gets difficult. We love it when Jesus is commending us, don't we?
We love it when Jesus is rehearsing those good things, right? Good, good, good. You know how this goes? Husbands, your wife is saying, man, you've been so nice here, you've been so good here, you've been doing this, but...
Wait a minute, I didn't sign up for the but. I don't want to hear the but. How many of us really like to hear where we lack? I don't think so.
They want to tell us but, and we're like, let's just move on from here. Let me go mow the lawn. Christ is faithful. Faithful are the wounds of a friend.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you.
The Toleration of Jezebel
Because you allowed that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. A similar situation was going on in Pergamos. Notice in chapter 2 verse 14, But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. One of the purposes in the book of Revelation, as a very Old Testament-ish book, is to bring a character out of the Old Testament Plop him or her, in this case, right down before our eyes so that we feel the weight of their wickedness.
Now, it would be near impossible to identify who this Jezebel is, or was. There is a variant reading. Variant reading simply means there's a body of textual evidence that has another reading. Doesn't mean there's contradictions, doesn't mean there are errors, just means there's variants of the specific text in question.
And one of the variants is probably in your New King James margin. where it says, your wife Jezebel. Some speculate that the pastor, remember, it's to the angel of the church in Thyatira. The angel is not the disembodied spirit that governs that church. It is probably the pastor or the overseer of that particular church.
Some speculate, based on that variant, that the pastor's wife was having Bible study and she was teaching heresy. Now, I don't know. What I do know is that there was heresy being taught, probably by a woman. But the idea of Jezebel brings before our eyes a woman of gross wickedness.
Remember Jezebel. She's in the Old Testament. She was the daughter of Ephbaal, the king of the Sidonians. She married Ahab, And if you were to look at the two of them, you would see wicked Ahab, but you would see her behind the scenes fanning the flames of his evil.
She was, in many respects, the instigation for a lot of his wickedness. They were both grossly involved in Baalism, and they took the entire northern kingdom with them, according to 1 Kings 18. They had supported prophets of Baal on the payroll in Israel. Absolutely incredible.
I mean, this was a wicked time in the 9th century BC. Jezebel was the one who concocted the scheme to obtain Naboth's vineyard for Ahab by lying about Naboth and having him murdered. She was a cunning woman. She was an intelligent woman.
You don't pull this stuff off if you're an idiot. She was a resourceful woman, but she was deceitful and ungodly and able to exert her influence upon others. So as Christ comes to condemn in the church of Thyatira, he brings that monster and drops her right into the laps of the people of God. He says, you've got these things in order. but you've let Jezebel come in.
You've let Jezebel come in and affect and infect the Church of Christ. She taught false doctrine and she seduced people into wickedness. When we saw this in Pergamos, we remembered that in Acts 15.29 at the Jerusalem Council, Gentile churches were specifically prohibited from eating things offered to idols or from engaging in sexual immorality. So Jezebel comes in and says, you know, it's not really that bad.
You have liberty in Jesus. You can do what you want. As long as no one's being hurt, then it's okay. Christ says it's not okay.
And the condemnation for the church, very specifically, is that they tolerated it. That's the issue. Oh yeah, she's bad and wicked and Jesus is going to kill her. But they let her.
They didn't stop her. They said it was okay, you can host a Bible study. You see that? Nevertheless, I have a few things against you because you allow that woman Jezebel to teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
You allow it. See, Ephesus had it right. You don't get behind the pulpit unless you are biblically qualified. Thyatira, in all of their loving, opened the pulpit to someone who would infect the church with bad doctrine.
I love what Chilton says. This must be clearly understood. Orthodox biblical Christianity is intolerant. A church that tolerates evil and false doctrine is a church under judgment.
God will not long tolerate her. This is not to say that Christians should be intolerant of each other's mistakes, idiosyncrasies, and differences over non-essentials. But when it comes to clear violations of biblical law and orthodox doctrine, the government of the church is required by scripture to put a stop to it before it destroys the church. So when those enemies of the gospel claim that the church is intolerant, hopefully they're right.
Hopefully they're right. I fear that our problem in this generation is to be too tolerant. Now, again, I think Chilton is right on. This is not to say that Christians should be intolerant of each other's mistakes, idiosyncrasies, and differences over non-essentials.
If you and I differ on something, that's fine, provided it isn't the deity of Christ. provided it isn't violating the law of God. You see that? We need to draw the line. We need to hold tightly those things most surely believed among us.
Those things that are indifferent are those things that are not as essential. Let's show charity. Let's show love. Let's show deference.
Doesn't mean we can't have our own opinions. Doesn't mean we might not even fight for the validity of a certain interpretation. There's a place. for well-intentioned, good-hearted, as long as it's based in love, debate in the Christian life, that's fine. It shouldn't be the case that when we differ on a non-essential, we get so angry that we go start our other churches.
That's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying, though, that when you let Jezebel into the pulpit, and she teaches people to violate the law of God, you have sinned. You have violated a basic, fundamental principle of Holy Scripture. You do not tolerate wickedness in the Church.
That's the point in this lesson. Christ goes on to say, I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Verse 21. I gave her time?
Do you see how unlike us, Jesus is? I gave her time. Christ is longsuffering. Christ is compassionate.
Christ is patient. Remember back in Nahum's day, they interpreted the longsuffering of the Lord as being indifference? We're not supposed to do that. We are to appreciate the long-suffering of Christ in this instance.
I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. The kindness and the patience of Christ ought to promote repentance in our lives. Romans 2.4 says the goodness of God should lead you to repentance. Don't abuse it.
Don't scoff at it. Don't live as if God has forgotten you. God doesn't forget you. God knows all things.
It is always before his eyes. Sometimes that patience ought not to be interpreted as his indifference. It ought to be interpreted as a time that he is giving us for repentance. That was the case in Thyatira.
Punishment Threatened
Notice quickly the punishment threatened by Christ, verses 22 and 23. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, lest they repent of their deeds." Isn't that amazing? The adulteress is going to be cast into a sickbed. Punishment answers to the crime, doesn't it?
She's an adulteress. She'll be sick in her bed. There'll be great tribulation, threatened judgment, and the gracious unless. Notice, those who commit adultery with her in the great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
So those participants with her, if they do not repent, they will reap great tribulation. There is a window of opportunity. There is time for repentance. This whole letter, along with the other six, are all evidences of Christ's kindness.
Don't just read this and go, man, he's pretty harsh with the churches. Just the opposite. He's very gracious with the churches. He's very kind to the churches.
He is very good in telling them how they are to operate in this world. And then he says he would remove them by death. I will kill her children with death. Verse 23.
This same judgment was inflicted upon the 70 sons of Ahab and Jezebel according to 2 Kings chapter 10. It's not as if Jesus is looking down at churches and saying, well, because of this I'm going to kill your kids. No, he's going back to the Old Testament. What was the end?
What was the demise? What was the fate, if you will, of Ahab and Jezebel? Their children were slain. The same is the case with the Church of Jesus Christ if she will entertain Jezebel's doctrine.
And that lesson ought to be needed by all the churches. 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. Christ comes to deal severely, if necessary, with erring churches.
Exhortation to the Faithful
And then he closes off with the exhortation There are those who had not given into the doctrine of Jezebel. Notice in verse 24. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine. So it wasn't the whole church.
It wasn't an epidemic, or a pandemic, or whatever the type of epidemic it would have been if everybody was affected. Pandemic's a lot in the news right now. There were still faithful ones. There were still those who said, no, I don't want that doctrine.
So that's a good thing, too. Just because your church entertains something that it ought not to doesn't mean you have to follow everything. I mean, Thyatira probably didn't have, you know, 70 churches. There wasn't a lot of options for the brethren here.
They were sitting in a pew and Jezebel got up to teach and they were affected and saying, man, I just don't like this, this isn't right. Christ never unchurched them or de-churched them, so at least up to this point it was still okay to be there. They didn't have anywhere else to go, but they weren't going to follow along. There's a lesson here.
Check everything. search the scriptures, bring your bibles to church, look in the texts, compare scripture with scripture. Don't just take the reverend's opinion. You need to understand it for yourselves. If the pulpit is plunging itself into heresy, and you've got the wherewithal to avoid that, Christ has a special word for you.
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. Again, the language is from the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. He is basically saying, I'm not going to heap up on you more. You just do what you're supposed to do.
In the midst of this context, you be faithful, verse 25. Hold fast what you have till I come. And there is this promise to overcomers in verse 26. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.
The Promise to Overcomers
Now we reign or we rule with Christ by virtue of our union with him. It's not like he gives us a hat and he gives us a stick and he says, now you go over there and you rule over France. Most of us would say, I don't want France. By virtue of our union with Christ, his victories are our victories.
His triumph is our triumph. That's what the scripture envisions, or envisages, or speaks of when it uses that language. And that's from A. A.
Hodge, Outlines of Theology, the best description of this I've ever read. It is not that we have our own little dominion, it is Christ exercising his sovereign rule and us being in him, we are said to participate in that. He quotes from Psalm 2, he says this is already a reality as I also have received from my Father. Jesus is not waiting to become the King, Jesus is the King.
Jesus is the Lord, Jesus has all authority, and Jesus says that those who overcome participate with Him. And He ends, as He does, all of the others. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The reference to the Morning Star, Revelation 22.16 says that Morning Star is Jesus Himself.
I will give him the morning star. I will give him myself. I will give him communion and intimacy and nearness. Those are the blessings the book of Revelation holds out for his people.
Application
We have learned again, Christ is present in his churches. He searches them out. He sees what they're doing. The good he commands, the bad he condemns.
He would see the very same things here. Hopefully, he'd be able to say, yeah, you've got these things in order. Nevertheless, these things are not in order. We need to take these things, we need to pray them in, and instead of fixing someone else, let's fix ourselves.
It's very easy to say, man, you should do this, or you should do that, or you should do... Now, there are certain things pastors should do, and if we aren't, we need to repent and forsake and all of that. But when you look at this list, am I working, am I loving, am I serving, am I being faithful, am I being patient? It's very easy for me to see when my wife's not doing her job.
Very easy. Which doesn't happen a lot. It's very easy when I go to a store and there is an inept worker there for me to see that he's not doing his job. It's easy.
I suspect it's easy for you guys, too. But when the cop pulls you over, it's very easy for you to become an authority about the law. And shouldn't you be out catching bad guys? We're good at doing other people's jobs.
What I want us to do is take this and first look at ourselves. Before we have a church that throbs with work and service and love and all those things, we have to have individuals that do that. If we as individuals aren't doing it, we're certainly not going to do it at the corporate level. So please take this home, please pray it in when you see, yeah, Butler needs to step it up here and there.
Tell me, yeah, I do. But look at yourself as well. I know your works, your love, your service, faith and patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first.
Brethren, I understand what it is to be battle weary. That means having been a Christian for a period of time, and realizing that it is not a rope of singing and dancing and tapping all the way into heaven. Christianity is not about having the birds flying around you, blowing their wind all over you, and rose petals adorning your path so that you can just dance on into heaven. Christianity, as I see it, is muddy and dirty, strewn with bodies, blood, bullets, bombs, casualties.
When there's rose petals and birds, I would imagine it's easy to keep on skipping. When you're stepping over dead bodies, and you yourself have fallen many occasions, and somebody's had to come along and peel you up, that gets difficult. There is a danger in becoming battle-weary. And we all try to cope.
I don't want to sound all psychobabble here, but there is the reality that we try to cope. We try to do the bare minima. We try to erect walls. We try to protect ourselves so that we won't be hurt again in the fashion that we were once before.
That's unacceptable. As one who has done that, it is unacceptable. Christ never says in the Scriptures, when you've been hurt, erect a wall and make it such that you'll never get hurt again. He doesn't say that.
He says when you get hurt, deal and move on. You've got to deal and move on. We've got to go forward. We've got to gird up.
We've got to be faithful. We've got to do the things that we don't always want to do. We have seen in these letters thus far, with just these four, there's no either or in the church. You're going to have doctrine or you're going to have practice.
The church is to be about both. We're to have doctrine. We're not to tolerate Jezebel. We're not to allow the devaluing of God's Holy Word to take place in His church.
But in that frame, we're going to love one another as well. We're going to deal graciously. If firmly, we're still going to be gracious to one another. And also, we need to learn afresh the patience of Jesus Christ as it's revealed to us in this passage.
Thyatira, this letter, along with the others, is a model. of the patience of Christ. I gave them time. I gave them time. Unless, he says, there are all marks of the mercy and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May that mercy and may that kindness truly promote in us repentance and faithfulness in the duties that he calls us to. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we give you thanks for the Holy Scriptures. We give you thanks for this letter to Thyatira. And we just pray, God Most High, that you would help us to take these things and to search our own hearts and search our own lives and to see whether there are works and love and service and faith and patience, constancy and endurance and perseverance, all those things that are typical of a battlefield. God, we know that you have not called us simply to sit and enjoy our salvation. that you have called us to radiate the gospel of Jesus Christ in the way that we live, the way that we love, and the way that we conduct ourselves.
And we just pray, individually and corporately, that you would forgive us, that you would grant us grace to act upon your mercy and to be faithful in these things. We pray that you would help us as well, doctrinally, to be faithful to your word, to love the truth, to love the scriptures, God, to buy it and sell it not, to value and prize it and not to compromise, even though many around us may do so. May Jezebel never gain a foothold in this church, but may we always be intolerant of heresy. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.