Turn with me to Revelation 2.
REVELATION 2:18-29
Twenty years after King James I of England received the first Bibles he commissioned to be translated into English, his successor Charles I commissioned 1000 more copies to be printed. Needless to say, he was not pleased with the result. As a matter of fact, he was so displeased that he fined the publisher a year’s wages and took away his printing license. What in the world had the publisher done to deserve all that? He left out one small three-letter word. In our Bibles, Exodus 20:14 is only 5 words long. It says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The word that King Charles’ publisher left out was “not”. So in that 1631 edition of the King James Bible, the seventh commandment commanded its readers that, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” I’m sure if a printer made that error today, the reaction would be different. Instead of the publisher being forced out of business, I’m sure that their sales would be off the charts. Of course, people have not needed a Bible misprint that commanded adultery to allow them to engage in immoral behavior, have they? The fact is that we live in one of the most sexually supercharged times in history. It doesn’t take any more than a quick flip through the TV Guide channel to see that. It is nearly impossible to avoid sexually charged images in our world today. From TV to billboards to magazine covers in the grocery store to storefront displays. Sexually charged images are feeding our sexually charged culture everywhere you turn. Who knows whether those images are the cause or the result of the immorality that abounds in our culture today. Activity that was hidden away in the back seat a generation ago is socially acceptable and even encouraged today. The statistics tell a sad tale. According to the Christian pollster George Barna, in 2003, 6 out of 10 Americans believed that it was morally acceptable to live together instead of getting married. The same number of people agree with actively engaging in sexual fantasies. Nearly half of Americans believe it’s OK to have sex with someone you’re not married to. Around 4 out of every ten Americans see nothing wrong with viewing pornography. And nearly a third see nothing wrong with homosexual sex. It’s no wonder that our society is in the condition it’s in. It’s no wonder our families are so messed up. But, in a way, even though it’s heartbreaking and disturbing, it’s easy to understand. It’s easy to understand, because the world is full of lost people. And lost people are going to act like lost people. People who are lost have no choice but to live in bondage to sin. Sometimes they are capable of reform, but apart from the cleansing blood of Christ and the power of His imputed righteousness, there is no victory over sin. We can expect nothing else from lost people. But here’s what’s really disturbing. Barna’s statistics show very little difference between people who call themselves Christians and those who don’t. In other words, these same sexual sins are nearly as much in the church as they are in the world. Statistically, among people who identify themselves as born-again Christians, nearly 4 out of 10 think it’s OK to live together without the benefit of marriage. The same 40% think actively engaging in sexual fantasies is morally acceptable behavior. Just as many or more people in the church are viewing pornography as those outside the church. According to his research, Barna indicated that more people in our churches today think it’s a sin to break the speed limit than people think it’s a sin to break the 7th commandment. That’s in our churches folks. No wonder they call us hypocrites. No wonder we can’t reach the world for Christ. We can’t reach the world for Christ because they see no difference in us. And they see no difference in us because there is no difference in the way we live. And there’s no difference in the way we live, because many times there’s no difference in us. There’s no difference in us, just like there was no difference in the church at Thyatira.
It’s interesting that the church at Thyatira received the longest letter of any of the seven churches here in Revelation. They received the longest letter, even though they were from the least significant area. They were from the typical small town of the day. They weren’t from San Francisco or Los Angeles or New York. They were from Bluefield or Princeton or Tazewell. The town was full of working class folks. People who worked hard making mostly textiles. It was a town that rarely experienced economic stability. Things in Thyatira were either boom or bust. At the time of this letter, they were experiencing good times. The purple cloth they manufactured was in high demand by the Romans. It’s amazing how many things the working folks of Thyatira had in common with working folks today. They were known for a couple of things. They were known for their trade guilds. Trade guilds were early examples of labor unions. So they were working men and union men. Like a lot of working men today, they were also known for not being very religious. The church at Thyatira wasn’t persecuted, because they didn’t really care what you worshipped. They weren’t into all that religious stuff. They were too busy working hard and playing hard. And play hard they did. Each of the trade guilds regularly held meetings. And the meetings would go like this. Spend a little time paying tribute to the pagan god of their guild. Spend a little time taking care of business. Spend a lot of time drinking and partying. And the partying always included sexual immorality. You can see that the Christians from the church at Thyatira had a problem. Thyatira wasn’t an open shop. In other words, you had to be a member of the trade guild to work in Thyatira. And if you were in the trade guild, you had to participate in the meetings. You see where the problem was. What would have been the right thing for them to do? The right thing for the Christians in Thyatira to do would have been to sacrifice their personal comfort and welfare for the sake of Jesus. The right thing would have been for them to refuse to participate in the pagan guilds and refuse to engage in their immoral practices. Of course that would have meant they wouldn’t have been able to work. It might have even cost them their lives. But what did Paul say in Philippians 1:20-21? He said, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Christian, our attitude must always be like that. Our attitude must say to the world, “I don’t care what’s going on in the world. I don’t care how everybody else lives. I don’t care what it’s going to cost me. I will live in such a way that Jesus Christ is magnified in my body.” The church at Thyatira wasn’t willing to live like that. So instead of sacrificing whatever was required for them to Jesus to be magnified in their bodies, they compromised.
Oh, they worked hard—verse 19 tells us that. As a matter of fact, they worked harder than they had ever worked before. They did all kinds of good works. They were good, salt of the earth people. They cut their neighbor’s grass, they handed out food, they would do anything in the world for you. But verse 20 says that Jesus had something against them. And it was a big something. He said that they put up with that woman Jezebel. Jezebel wasn’t the woman’s name. It might not have even been an individual woman in the church. Whether it was or not isn’t really the issue. The issue is the sin that was going on in the church. It wasn’t only going on in the church, it was being taught in the church that it was OK. The real Jezebel was an extremely wicked woman in the Old Testament. She was the wife of King Ahab and was responsible for killing hundreds of God’s prophets. She was a worshipper of the Canaanite fertility god Baal. Baal worship was nothing more than gross orgies and other forms of sexual immorality. Jezebel obviously wore the pants in the family. She not only ruled the roost, she had a tremendous influence in ruling Israel. And it was through her leadership that God’s priests were killed, his prophets like Elijah were persecuted and Baal worship was spread throughout the land. And that was what Jesus compared the situation that was going on in Thyatira to. The teaching was probably similar to the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans we talked about last week. It was the kind of teaching that said your relationship with God is your spiritual life. Your spiritual life doesn’t have anything to do with your physical life. In other words, live like you want to live and still call yourself a Christian. But her doctrine went a step further. She encouraged people in the church to live immorally. She might have been a member of one of those trade guilds and used her platform in the church to encourage people to participate in them. However it worked, she taught the people that immoral sex was OK and even encouraged it. I want to take a step back for a moment. I want you to notice something here. Notice who had the key role here in leading the church into immorality. It was a woman. Ladies, I want you to understand something. When it comes to ungodly sexual relationships, you have a leading role. Your role is to just say no. I understand that it takes two to tango and both men and women are held equally culpable and accountable in areas of sexual immorality. But when you say no, nothing happens. When God cursed the woman in the Garden of Eden He said, “thy desire shall be for thy husband and he shall rule over thee.” That means that as part of the curse, there will be times when you want to exercise control over a man. And in our society today, girls are taught that the way to exercise control over a man is with the power of sexuality. Don’t fall for it. You can control and manipulate a man with sex for only so long. Because all the time you think you’re controlling him, he’s using you. And when he’s done using you, you’re used up to him. And when you’re used up, all you’re good for to him is throwing away. Or throwing out the window like Jezebel. Whoever this woman or women were that Jesus referred to as Jezebel… whoever they were taught and seduced the men of the church to sexual immorality. Was this widespread practice among everybody in the church? No—it probably happened like it always does—behind closed doors. But some people knew about it. When Jesus said in verse 20, “thou sufferest that woman Jezebel” He used the first person singular. That means He was pointing His finger to one person in particular who knew what was going on and didn’t do anything about it. By the context, that was probably the pastor of the church. He knew. Probably others knew, but they didn’t do anything about it. They allowed this Jezebel to continue to lead men in the congregation astray. Apparently, judging from verse 21, she had been confronted about it but still brazenly continued on unrepentant. And she paid the price for it. But not only her, the men who fell for her teaching paid the price for it. But not only them, the whole church paid the price for it. But not only did the whole church pay the price for it, the church’s next generation paid the price.
All sin has consequences. Sexual sin especially has consequences. Unrepentant, ongoing, continual sexual sin has devastating consequences. In verses 22-23, Jesus tells the church that the people who were engaged in the sexual immorality are going to be cast into great physical tribulation. The idea here is that since they liked to spend so much time in the bed, Jesus was going to cast them there. Except instead of being there for some sort of illicit pleasure, they were going to be there in pain and sickness. At that point we can stand back and cheer Jesus on. “Alright—they get what they deserve.” But then He goes on to talk about her children. Now, just like this passage isn’t talking about a specific woman named Jezabel, it probably isn’t talking about a specific woman’s specific physical children. But Jesus is telling us that sin always has collateral damage. There is no such thing as a victimless crime. If these people thought, “well, this is just consensual sex between two people in the privacy of our own bedroom. We’re not hurting anyone.” If that’s what they thought, they were wrong. Because secret sins aren’t. the Bible is very clear when it tells you to beware that your sins will find you out. And these people’s unrepentant sins found them out. And it was a curse on the church for at least two generations. We see the consequences of unrepentant sexual sin all around us. We see it in destroyed homes, destroyed lives and destroyed churches. We see it in disease and abuse and abortion. And we see it in the ineffectiveness of our churches to impact the world for Christ. Right now, we are living in a culture that Jesus called, “the depths of Satan,” in verse 24. So how do we live in that kind of world? How did Jesus call the church at Thyatira to live in that kind of world?
He had two commands for two different groups of people in that church. The first is referred to back in verse 21. In verse 21, Jesus says that He gave them plenty of space to repent. I love the way that’s worded. The original word is the same word we get the word chronology from. It usually indicates time, but can also carry the meaning of occasion or period. You might think of it as a season. In other words, Jesus, out of His infinite grace and love and mercy, gave these people a season to repent. He gave them all the space they needed. All the occasions they needed to clearly hear His Word. He allowed them to become convicted and at some point they still refused. Have you ever been almost caught at something and said, “Boy, I’m never going to do that again.” Like when you’re speeding down the road and see the police lights behind you. And then he pulls around you to get the next guy. “Boy, I’m not going to speed again.” How long does that last? Usually till the next time you look down at the speedometer. The Lord gives us plenty of chances to see the police lights in our mirror. He gives each of us enough space to repent. The question is, have you taken hold of His grace when He offers it. And don’t use the excuse, “Well, it’s just too late for me.” If you’re feeling the conviction of God’s Spirit this morning, it’s not too late. You’re still in that space. But the space won’t last forever. Jesus gave this Jezebel space to repent and she didn’t. Now, it seems the opportunity is gone. If you are living an unrepentant lifestyle do not wait till the opportunity is gone. Respond to the Spirit today. Turn from that lifestyle in repentance today. By God’s grace through the power of His Word, He will give you the strength to turn. Are you in the first group Jesus was speaking to? Are you in the space He’s given you to repent? Or are you in the second group?
He talks to the second group in verse 25. That’s the apparently small group in the Thyatira church who were not living in unrepentant sin. And look what Jesus said to that small group of godly people. He said, “Hold fast till I come.” Persevere. Be faithful. Don’t fall for the lies. Don’t think that the grass is greener on the other side. Don’t fall for the lies of the seductress. As Solomon told his young son Rehoboam in Proverbs 5:3-5, “For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.” Ladies, hold fast to being the virtuous woman God has called you to be. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 says, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” Don’t get your back up when you hear that. Paul is telling you to physically adorn yourself modestly so others can focus on how you’re spiritually adorned. So that people can see who you are and who Christ is in you. Not so they can see you for and object with no lasting value. An object that’s only good for using and disposing of. Men, hold fast to the faithfulness God has called you to have. Where does that start? It starts with the eyes. This isn’t a 21st century problem as we can see from Thyatira. As a matter of fact, it’s a problem that been around since the fall. That’s why we see Job make a vow in Job 31:1. He said, “I made a covenant with mine eyes—why then should I think upon a maid?” Hide your eyes like Job did and flee like Joseph did when he ran away from Potipher’s wife. Jesus said, hold fast. Not for a few minutes. Not till the urge goes away. Not till later. Till He comes for you. And as you do, He will ease the burden. As you continue to faithfully hold fast, Jesus will not only deliver you from evil, He will lead you less and less into temptation.
So, where are you this morning? Are you in the first group? Are you precariously living in the shrinking space that Jesus has so graciously given you to repent? If you are, you have heard the Word speaking directly to your sin this morning. You are setting up yourself and those around you to be as verse 27 says. To be broken beyond recognition. But God’s grace is great. And He is giving you one more opportunity to lay hold of His grace this morning. Don’t waste it. I would say that most of you are in the second group this morning. You are in the group that needs to hold fast till Jesus comes. If you are, ladies, today is the day to commit to showing your beauty by the way that Christ shows through your life. Men, today is the day to make that covenant with your eyes.
Whatever group you find yourself in this morning, the bottom line is that you need Jesus. You need Him as your Savior. You need Him as your strength. And when Jesus is your Savior and your strength, a glorious promise awaits you.
REVELATION 2:26-28
