#31 – Continuing With The Church Of Thyatira

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.” ’

While this church appeared to be everything a church ought to be on the outside, it was corrupt at its core, so Jesus comes to confront their sin. Jesus confronts the false teacher of this church that has been allowed to prosper for quite some time. They were being led away from the Lord by the teachings of an influential woman in their congregation. The church not dealing with it causes Jesus to expose her teachings and bring upon them His judgment if it doesn’t stop. This woman is called “Jezebel,” she is called by the name of one of the most infamous women in the Bible. A little background on Jezebel will help us to understand what this woman was doing in this church.

The Jezebel recorded in the Old Testament was the wife of a wicked king named Ahab (1 Kings 16:31). Her name means “chaste,” but she was anything but that. She was the wicked daughter of a Gentile king, who was a devoted worshiper of the false god Baal. She kept 850 prophets of baal and asherah, for that wicked sensual religion (1 Kings 18:19). Baal was a fertility god and his prophets and priests were no more than temple prostitutes who worshiped through vile sexual acts and gross wickedness. Asherah was the name of the wife of the chief Canaanite god who’s image was carved into wooden poles, and set up in her honor and placed in the pagan areas of worship. When Jezebel came to Israel she brought her perverted religion with her and led her weak-kneed husband to follow her gods and thus influenced Israel to seek Baal instead of Jehovah (1 Kings 21:25-26). So Jezebel came to be identified with wickedness and idol worship.

So this self-appointed prophetess in Thyatira is not the Jezebel of the Old Testament of course, but she is like her, whoever she was. The Jezebel in Thyatira was guilty of leading the people away from the true worship of God into immoral affairs involving drunkenness, sexual immorality, and making sacrifice to the pagan god Apollo. The teaching at Thyatira may have been the idea that an individual could be saved by grace and indulge the fleshly appetite for sin at the same time. This is possible since some people of the time held the view that the soul and the flesh were not connected. In other words, they taught that what a person did in their body had no effect on their spiritual life and vice versa, the very thing that John addressed and dealt with in his epistle of (1 John).

This woman prophetess may have been telling the people in this church that they could hold onto their pagan beliefs and practices and still serve the Lord, much like what is taught today, that they could sin and still be saved. This may have been the tool that the church in Thyatira was using to get the pagans of Thyatira to come to their church. They might have been compromising their standards to attract the world. I can hear that today, “Come as you are, don’t change a thing, keep living like you have always lived, and we’ll accept you just like you are. God loves you and we do too, neither He nor us expects you to change one thing.” Can’t you hear that reasoning today in the church?

Jesus expresses displeasure with this church because they allowed this woman to be in a position of leadership and because they tolerated the lies she was teaching as truth. When we sit back and allow that kind of wickedness to go unchecked in the church today, we invite the anger and judgment of God. Some people might look at Rathdrum Bible Church and think we are not up with the times, that we are to radical about the Scriptures being inherent and sufficient for all our needs, that the word of God is pushed to the forefront of all that goes on in our fellowship. They might not understand why we won’t line up with what many in todays Christianity say is ok behavior.

But if the church surrenders just a little and compromises with the world, with false doctrines, with worldly behavior, then the world will not stop until it has everything we value, and we will be left with nothing but the anger of a holy God. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather be called old-fashioned, not up with the times, not modern, irrelevant, not woke, etc., than to forfeit the power and presence of Almighty God. If we open the door to let the world come in do not be surprised if the Lord walks out.

This woman Jezebel was leading the people of God astray, she was leading them into sexual immorality, the term can mean “fornication” which comes from the word “pornia,” where we get the word “pornography.” The word literally means “to prostitute one’s body to the lusts of another.” It can refer to sexual sin, or it can be used as a metaphor for idol worship. What they were doing, the Lord calls it “the depths of Satan” (2:24).

The same teaching abounds today! Everywhere, people who call themselves Christians claim that they can have a relationship with the Lord on the one hand and live lives of open sin on the other. Everything is permissible! One can be a fornicator, an idolater, an adulterer –a homosexual (consisting of effeminate and sodomites), a thief, a covetous person, a drunkard, a liar, a reviler, a drug abuser – adherents to false religions – etc. – all claim to be saved and still able to do as they please, and yet he Lord expects the church to withdraw fellowship from those who are unfaithful (1 Corinthians 5:1-13) (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) (Romans 16:17-18) (2 Thessalonians 3:6). We cannot afford to fellowship unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:3-21).

When the pagans in Thyatira were saved they were faced with a problem. Do they refuse to join the guilds and be unemployed, or do they participate in the pagan rituals and compromise their faith in Jesus Christ? The mind of God in this matter is found in (Acts 15:28-29) (1 Corinthians 8-10).

Because of what she has done, she and all her followers will face God’s wrath (2:21-23). By using the phrase “cast…her into great tribulation” Jesus is telling us that these people are not saved. But, notice the grace in His judgment! He is still giving them time to repent. If they refuse, they will be judged according to your deeds (works) (2:22). Let us not deceive ourselves, people who will not bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, who will not trust Him for salvation and demonstrate that salvation through a changed -and dedicated life, are people who have never been saved. They abide under the wrath of God and will be judged by Him according to their deeds (works) (Revelation 20:11-15).

If you have never believed on Jesus (His finished work at the cross), let me challenge you to come to God while there is still time, because one day, the patience of God will reach an end and nothing will remain but death, judgment, and hell.

The Lord gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, but she didn’t.Man has been given the same opportunity to repent, to turn to Christ

Read: (Acts 3:19) (Acts 17:30-31) (Acts 26:20)

Right now if you are without salvation in Christ and you are pursuing a false life of hope, built on false doctrine contrary to the word of God (Bible), and fail to repent of your rejection of Jesus Christ, you alone will be to blame.

Jezebel and her followers would be cast into a bed of tribulation unless they repented, and her punishment would prove that Jesus knew the hearts and minds of men (Psalm 7:9) (Proverbs 24:12) (Jeremiah 17:10) (John 2:23-25) (Hebrews 4:12-13). Not everyone in Thyatira had walked away from the Lord, even in that tolerant, compromising, sinful church there was a faithful remnant of over comers. The Lord has a few words of hope and comfort for those who did not accept Jezebel, or her doctrine (teaching). Notice what Jesus promises the overcomers in Thyatira

1. “I will put on you no other burden” – (2:24) – referring to – (Acts 15:28-29)
2. “Hold fast what you have till I come” – (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, 58) (1 Thessalonians 5:21) (Philippians 4:8-9)
3. “He would give them power over the nations – Jesus promised that His people would reign with Him – this is here is a special promise to those who overcome idolatry – with the promise in – (2:27) – that when Jesus comes to reign – righteousness will be enforced – and those who rebel against Christ will be dashed to pieces – (Psalm 2:9)
4. “I will give him the morning star” – Jesus offers them a reward greater than the kingdom – He offers them the reward of Himself – because He is the “Morning Star” – (Revelation 22:16)

One day the King is coming again, when He does, those who have served Him faithfully, will reign with Him. It will be worth it all when that day comes.