Get your house in order - Part 2
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Textual Idea – Jesus has a message for the 7 local churches which typify churches today.
Transition w/ key word – Our text presents several common themes of Jesus message to the churches. (Format modified from Lehman Strauss) Read 2:18-29
We note the:
The Assembly - The Author - The Approval - The Admonition - The Appeal - The Application -
Introduction - How many of you here today are the kind of people who read the instructions, or the owners manual? Interesting. So then how many of you will read it after you’ve tried to put something together and it’s not going well, then you’ll read the instructions? Finally how many of you will never read it no matter what, as a matter of pride, and send it back to Amazon or return it to Walmart b/c it’s defective??? Probably shouldn’t answer that haha.
Transition – Well in our study through Revelation, the Apostle John is commanded by the Lord Jesus Himself to write some letters of instruction to the 7 churches of Revelation that included common themes for the church as He warns them to get their house in order. (See study guide). Read 2:18-29
Last week we looked at 3 churches, Ephesus, Smyrna & Pergamos. Remember last week we said the Lord told John in 1:19 to “Write the things which you have seen, the things that are, and the things which will take place after this.” These two chapters where the things “which are” or were during John’s life. It was the risen Lord’s assessment of the 7 churches of Asia. Each letter to each church has 1) A primary association - in other words it was to a specific body of believers and was a direct message to that church. 2) A personal application - each church was made up of individual believers and through out these letters Jesus said to the members: “He that hath an ear to hear let him hear.” So they were to take to heart what their Savior said and apply it to their life and their church! 3) A prophetic anticipation - The principles laid out to these actual churches have direct bearing and are typical of problems of churches today and throughout the church age. So they are important for us to read and understand and apply to our lives as well. We note the:
1. The Assembly - Thyatira - 2:18-29
As we’ve done last week it’s helpful for us to see the churches laid out on a map as the Lord deals with them in order of geographical location. (Show map & review where John is, & Ephesus up to Thyatira.) The City of Thyatira The longest of the seven letters was written to the church in the smallest town and Thyatira had little political or religious influence. It was located on a vast plain so military commanders tried to store a military arsenal there and it was supposed be a first line of defense for Pergamum to the NW but to little avail.
Thyatira was known for the trade guilds or “Collegia”, most notably the clothing industry because the water around Thyatira was well suited for dying cloth different colors. Paul met a woman named Lydia in Acts 16:14 who was from Thyatira and the Bible tells us she was a seller of purple apparently in Philippi to market her clothing but she got saved and most likely carried the gospel back to her home town.
2. The Author - 2:18b
As we’ve said, Jesus described Himself differently to each church because each church had different needs & problems and Jesus is the Head of each church. As the Alpha & Omega, He uniquely can address each need based on His Divine Character. Here the Lord Jesus reveals 3 things about Himself to the Church at Thyatira.
A. The Son of God
The first thing Jesus said - “Says the Son of God…” While on earth, Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man highlighting His humanity. Nowhere in Scripture do you find Jesus referring to Himself as the son of Mary or even Joseph. We find other people who were trying to slander the Lord Jesus and cast doubt about Him as we see in Mark 6:3 as the carpenter, the son of Mary. Men were typically identified by their father and these people in Nazareth were claiming Jesus was an illegitimate son of Mary. But here Jesus clearly says He is the Son of God! This highlights His deity above all others, including those who elevate the Lord’s mother Mary to an exalted position above Jesus.
B. Next Jesus says He has eyes like a flame of fire -
Someone said, “There is nothing more piercing than flaming fire. Everything yields and melts before it. It penetrates, all things, consumes every opposition, sweeps down all obstruction, and presses its way with invincible power.” (Strauss p. 60)
I’ve seen pictures of wildfires out west that have consumed whole neighborhoods and everything is gone down to concrete slab because of the intensity of the flames and heat. Nothing escapes the power of the Lord’s holy gaze of flaming fire! Hebrews 4:13 says “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes Him to whom we must give an account.”
C. Feet like fine brass -
Some translations like the ESV, NIV, CSB & NASB may say burnished bronze or burnished brass. This word only occurs here & in 1:15 describing the Lord’s feet and is hard to find in Greek literature. Dr. Paige Patterson explains that the word seems to reference that the Thyatiran guilds had figured out a way to distill zinc; and in mixing zinc w/ copper, they developed a strong valuable metal for both instruments of war and coinage. He continues that John had taken something with which every Thyatiran would have been familiar with as an expression of the strength and ability of the Savior to deal with whatever situation must be faced in Thyratira.” (p. 113)
3. The Approval - vs. 19
As He has done with the the other churches we’ve already seen & except Sardis & Laodicea we will get to, the Lord has words of approval for the churches. A divine affirmation of what He sees and knows about the church. Sadly He had no words of approval for Sardis & Laodicea. Here the Lord has 5 words of approval for Thyatira.
A. “I know your works…”
“Know” (odia) is different from the more common GK word “ginosko” which is knowledge accumulated over time. This word for know is complete and full knowledge describing the Lord’s knowledge of his church is affirmed to each of these 7 churches. He commended their work - the word is ergon where we get our word ergonomics from; the study of efficiency in a work environment - whether good or bad.
B. Jesus commended their love –
Love of course is agape - sacrificial loyal love that puts others first. The Christian life is all about relationships, first a vertical love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ & then a horizontal love relationship with others. It’s a sacrificial love based on choice, not on feelings. “It’s the giving of myself even to death for the holiness and righteousness of another.”
C. Jesus commended their service -
Service/ministry is the word Diakonioa - actually where we get our word Deacon from describing what deacons do, they serve, minister to others.
D. Jesus commended their faith -
Pisteuo - That very quality without which the Bible says it is impossible to please God Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
E. Their patience -
The word is hupomeno - literally to remain under - to endure. Carries the idea of patient endurance & perseverance. Then Jesus says their works or more than the first, suggesting these believers had grown to some degree of Christian maturity.
However…
4. The Admonition - vs. 20-23
“Nevertheless, I have a few things against you…”
In short, the subtle temptation for this church was social acceptance.
Religion in Thyatira was connected to material prosperity and the trade guilds. Caesar was worshipped as Apollo incarnate and matters of faith took a backseat to commercial enterprise and material prosperity. A powerful woman symbolically called Jezebel, after the wicked queen married to Ahab in 1st Kings 16:31; had influence so great the believers were encouraged to participate in the festivals committing fornication, sexual immorality & eating things sacrificed to idols vs. 20.
By referring to Jezebel, the Lord paints a symbolic picture of the evil influence of Jezebel on King Ahab to worship the idol Baal. We get a graphic picture of the depth of depravity Jezebel had led the COI into in 1st Kings 18. God declared a drought through the prophet Elijah and they had a contest on Mount Carmel b/w Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal as to who was the true God. Of course God won the contest hands down and Elijah and the COI killed all 450 prophets of Baal, but in a rage, Jezebel put a contract out on Elijah’s life and he had to flee for his life. She must have been a scary woman to have Elijah quaking in his boots - well sandals...
Ahab and Jezebel were two of the most wicked leaders Israel ever had. Just like Jezebel had lead Israel astray from true worship of God, this NT version of Jezebel was leading the church astray and into socially acceptable immorality. The believers at Thyatira were more concerned about fashion than faith. They preferred social acceptance to spiritual integrity. They wanted to tolerate sin in the name of cultural accommodation. What a terrible picture of churches today!
5. The Appeal - vs. 24-28 -
Apparently there was a small minority of true believers who “had not known the depths of Satan” - they hadn’t engaged in the level of depravity as others had; they were to “hold fast what you have till I come.”
Jesus makes an interesting promise to the few faithful believers in Thyatira.
They will rule & have authority over the nations - vs. 26 This is a preview of the millennial reign of Christ.
As part of that rule they will dash them to pieces like pottery is smashed just as Jesus has received authority from the Father, they will rule with a rod of iron. Vs. 27 Several OT references use this kind of language.
Ps. 2:9 “You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ””
Is. 30:14 “And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel, Which is broken in pieces; He shall not spare. So there shall not be found among its fragments A shard to take fire from the hearth, Or to take water from the cistern.””
Jer. 19:11 “and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury.”
The humble servants of Christ in Thyatira will someday be given enormous authority of all the nations and reign with Jesus Christ. This in consistent keeping with Jesus’ promise in Matt. 25:21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”
4. He will give him the Morning Star. In Rev. 22:16 ““I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”” The promise then is the church at Thyatira, those who remain faithful to the calling of God, will eventually receive the morning star, that is the close, abiding, intimate and eternal fellowship with the Lord Jesus himself.
6. The application - vs. 29
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
This is both to the church and it’s individual members. We can summarize it this way: The Lord Jesus Christ sees who you are in secret and will not tolerate sexual immorality or any “secret sin.” Jezebel was also greedy - she helped her greedy husband Ahab get Naboth’s vineyard by slandering him with false witnesses and had him stoned to death! (1st Kings 21:1-16).
1. The Assembly - Sardis - 3:1-6 -
(Show map) The next church about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira. Sardis was a commercial & industrial city that sat at the intersection of five roads. It had been the ancient capital of Lydia, but it’s greatest glory was in the past. In the 6th century B.C. it was one of the greatest cities in the world, ruled by the fabled king Croesus, whom the Greeks called Midas, known for his golden treasures. (Midas touch). The city had the advantage of the city walls being 1500 feet up and being protected by steep cliffs. The residents believed they were not vulnerable to attack and even left part of it unguarded which led to their capture by both the Greeks and the Romans. Just like the city was vulnerable to attack, so the church is vulnerable to attack when there is a lack of vigilance.
2. The Author - vs. 3:1 -
“Says He who has the 7 Spirits of God & the 7 stars.”
This references back to 1:4 where John references the 7 Spirits who are before His throne. This symbolizes the Holy Spirit in complete and perfect power and work. & is the number of perfection or completeness & fullness. Jesus wanted this church and their pastor to know God’s desire is that He would control this church and their pastor by the effective work of the Holy Spirit. The risen Lord’s identification of Himself this way is a matter of relationship; that He maintains a relationship with the Holy Spirit and the Pastor of this church. He knew intimately their works.
3. The Affliction - 3:1b
Interestingly the Lord has no words of affirmation or approval for this church. The Lord quickly gets to the problem with this church which is also a matter of relationship. In Sardis the question was about the relationship between reputation & reality. They had a name - a reputation, but Jesus the Great Physician checked their pulse & said the reality in fact was that they were dead!
Have you ever been to a dead church? Dead orthodoxy/teaching, dead traditionalism, dead liberalism. There is nothing more tragic than watching a church die. Some die because of tradition (we’ve always done it this way); some die because of race or socio-economic status (we don’t want those kind of people) and the neighborhood changes around them and rather than reach their community they just hunker down and eventually die. (Saw this in many churches in Baltimore). Others die b/c of complacency and they grow weary in doing good. One things for sure, whenever a church quits preaching the gospel & evangelizing the lost, they become inward focused they are doomed to die.
4. The Appeal - 3:2
“Be watchful” - literally wake up!
Obviously you can’t appeal to a dead man so the Lord appeals to the remaining Godly remnant that was sleepy and dosing off; wake up! “Strengthen those things with remain” - you are ready to die but you aren’t dead yet!
5. The Application - 3:3
The risen Lord gives the remnant of this dead church 3 things to wake up and pay attention too:
A. Remember
How you were first converted to Christ & the teaching you heard. Get back to the basics of NT Christianity.
B. Hold fast -
Keep the truth as it is the only anchor for your soul in changing times.
C. Repent -
Repent of your apathy and become vigilant and diligent about your walk with Christ.
Vs. 3b - The allusion to the fate of the city of Sardis is clear from the risen Lord to this dead church. If you don’t wake up & watch out, I’m going to come like a thief and you won’t know what happened! Just like overconfident Sardis thought their walls high up on that hill were impenetrable and they quit standing watch and guard, and were captured not once but twice by the Greeks & the Romans.
Vs. 4 Jesus turns His attention addresses the few names there in Sardis who had not soiled their garments - the faithful few trying to survive in a dead church and dead town. See the promises vs. 4-5:
1. They shall walk with me in white - they are worthy. vs. 4b-5a
The picture is of those who walked with God in holiness & righteousness - they didn’t soil their garments and pollute them with the worldliness surrounding them. Their worth is not because of them, but because of the sacrifice of the Worthy Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Rev. 12:11 declares “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb!” This same Lamb is the only one found worthy to open the scroll with 7 seals in Rev. 5:9.
2. Their names would not be blotted out of the Book of Life - 5b
Unfortunately some have misinterpreted this verse to mean that you can lose your salvation. However, the text contains a double negative that makes it very emphatic. It literally reads “I will never by any means blot out his name.” In Exodus 32 while Moses was meeting the Lord face to face, the people made a golden calf and worshipped that idol. When Moses interceded for the people before the Lord asking Him to forgive them, and if the Lord would not forgive, Moses asked God to blot out his own name from God’s book! (Ex. 32:32) Of course it was impossible for Mose to atone for their sin with his life and so it was impossible for his name to be blotted out! Jesus was very clear on this point in John 10:27-30
3. Jesus will confess them before His Father & the Angels.
Jesus said in Matt.10:32 “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will confess before my Father who is in Heaven.” They are unashamed to be counted with Jesus.
These promises mean the overcomer is clothed in a robe of white signifying his holiness and worthiness before God - imputed to him by the sinless Son of God. He walks worthy into the presence of God and the angels, not fearing his name has been removed from the Book of Life; and there he hears Jesus confess him before the host of heaven as the Lord’s own.
Vs. 6 - He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Lessons:
1. (Comes directly from 2:23) “…I am He who searches the minds & hearts and I will give to each of you according to your works.”
So what does the risen Lord Jesus see in your mind & heart?
Vs. 21 tells us He even gave this wicked woman Jezebel time to repent and she wouldn’t do it! Prov. 28:13 “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. CF 1st John 1:9. - personal holiness is still a big deal to God! Oh brother’s & sisters, please, please, please, confess your sin before a Holy God as soon as the Holy Spirit brings conviction! You tell it to Jesus!
Has He searched your mind & heart and found you don’t know Him as Savior & Lord? Today is the day of salvation! ABC’s.
2. Wake up and watch out for spiritual apathy that leads directly to spiritual death both corporately and individually.
The slippery slope of compromise in our walk with Christ as a church and as individuals must constantly be guarded against.
Close - We read about Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatire, & Sardis and think “Oh that will never happen to my church.” Well...
In the early 1740’s, New England experienced what was called the “Great Awakening”. It was closely associated with the preaching of George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards. Edwards’ famous sermon “Sinner’s in the hands of an angry God” was so powerful, people literally shrieked in fear and fell down on their faces weeping and repenting for their sin. Because of Edwards Puritan background, he didn’t think such an emotional reaction was appropriate so he actually threw the sermon away! Thankfully someone retrieved it and kept it so we can read it today. (My dad actually reenacted this in character & I believe it’s still online.)
Whitefield was a powerful orator who’s voice could be heard by thousands of people without a sound system. It is estimated he preached 18,000 times to 10 million people. His last sermon on his New England tour, he preached to 23,000 people in Boston commons! Just a few miles up the road from where we planted our church in Littleton NH, the small village of Whitefield NH rests, named after the famous preacher.
Thousands of white church houses with tall steeples dot the New England countryside. There’s a giant problem. They are dead! The “Congo Church” - preacher used the Reader’s Digest on Sunday mornings. Those churches are museums, tae quan do studios, or museums. Outside St. Johnsbury Vt, just across the Connecticut River from our home is a place called “The Dog Chapel” - It is literally a place for people to enshrine their dearly departed dogs, complete with stained glass! Show pictures the sign out front says “Welcome all creeds, all breeds, no dogmas allowed.”
Listen up, straighten up, pay attention to what the Spirit says to the church!