Just like last time when we said that worldliness will corrupt a church, tonight we will see that compromise will also destroy a church. We live in a world of compromise where people seek their own interests at any cost. People, in a sense, sell their souls for the pleasures of the world. It’s not limited to any age group. They will do almost anything to:
• To get attention.
• To be popular and be acceptable.
• To secure their jobs.
• To get promotions.
• To get good grades.
• To get more money.
• To get bigger houses.
• To live in a better neighborhood.
• To get more power.
The point is clear. People compromise what they know is right in order to get what they want.
Well this is what the church at Thyatira was doing. It was a church full of believers who were compromising with the world in order to fulfill their personal desires.
Again, Jesus addresses the letter to the minister of the church. If some of the members of the church begin to compromise with the world, it is the minister’s duty to declare the Word of Christ to them, to proclaim what Christ says in this message. Note that Thyatira was the smallest of the seven churches but this is the longest message of all the churches. Christ has more to say to a compromising church that to any other.
Thyatira was a frontier town—the least important city of the seven. It lay on the road that stretched through a long valley between Pergamum and Sardis. The church had no defensible surroundings. So it knew what it was to hope in One who could see all circumstances and who could trample all enemies under His foot. They knew what it means to hold on.
Thyatira was known for its working unions. Its two major industries were dye and wool. Lydia from the book of Acts, the dealer of purple cloth was from Thyatira. Their product plus a major road running through the city brought people from all over the world.
READ verse 18. Note that Christ describes Himself here as the Son of God. No person, especially a believer, is to compromise with the world. There is to be no attachment and no love for the world. A person owes his life to the Son of God. He is to give his life to the Son of God.
Christ declares that His eyes are like blazing fire. That is a reference to the fact that He sees all. He sees when a person is compromising. He sees all the lies, the stealing, and the cheating. But He also sees those that are faithful to stand when they are tempted.
He says His feet are like burnished bronze. He is able to step down hard on all seductive teaching and compromise with the world. His feet will crush all those who compromise with the world. Jezebel who is mentioned in verse 20 was claiming to be a prophetess, a spokesperson, a messenger of God.
READ verse 19. This is actually a commendation. Thyatira was a very active church, involved in all kinds of deeds for the Lord. Christ says He knows about these deeds. There were the deeds of love and faith, of service and perseverance, and there was even a significant growth in the ministries of the church. The church grew, expanded, and reached out more and more.
Let’s think about the kind of church being described—dynamic, vibrant, alive—meeting all the social needs of the community—having all the ministries that range all the way from a clothes and food closet over to reaching out to the lost in a regular visitation program. The church was full of activity and energy and crowded with people. Yet, the church was a far cry from what it should have been. It was compromising. It was allowing a teacher to teach who compromised with the world, and it was allowing the worldly to be baptized and accepted into the church without repenting and separating from the pleasures of the world.
The church appeared to be the most alive and dynamic church in the area, but it wasn’t in the eyes of the Lord. To the Lord it was corrupt because of its compromise with the world.
READ verses 20 & 21. And here is the complaint that the church was allowing Jezebel to teach in the church. It was tolerating a false prophetess to teach in the church. Note that Jezebel called HERSELF a prophetess—no one else called her that. She CLAIMED that God had called and gifted her to teach and to proclaim the truth when, in fact, He did no such thing.
There are several things to mention here.
First, Jezebel, the false teacher, was actually teaching in the church and the church was allowing the false teaching.
Second, Jezebel, the false teacher, was being allowed to mislead and seduce the Lord’s servants. She presented arguments that were reasonable enough, deceiving enough that the Lord’s servants were pulled into it.
Third, Jezebel, the false teacher, was seducing believers to commit sexual immorality. How could such teaching be allowed within the church? Here’s how.
She taught:
• That believers couldn’t separate themselves entirely from the world with becoming exclusive and snobbish.
• That believers needed to be sensible in dealing with the world and its functions. They needed to be participating in some of the world’s functions in order to be friendly, keep their jobs, get promotions, and help their businesses.
• That believers could reach the world more easily by associating and fellowshipping with the world.
• That if a person really worshipped God, he would be acceptable to God even if he didn’t know about Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ is not the only way to God. That He is not the only Savior.
• That believers should attend the social functions of neighbors and fellow workers and not be exclusive and separated.
All of this was being done because of the teachings of one false teacher.
Fourth, Jezebel, the false teacher, was misleading believers to commit adultery. Some of the functions they were attending involved heavy drinking and sacrificing meat to an idol god. Think of where we fit in. What if we went to a gathering and part of the entertainment was to offer meat on an altar to a false god. You would probably just leave, right? Yet we often don’t think anything about attending a gathering where alcohol is served. Why is that?
READ verses 22 & 23. So here is the warning to all those who compromise and are corrupted. There are five quick points that we need to note.
1. There is the warning to Jezebel. She is to be cast upon a bed of suffering. This probably means some venereal disease or some disease like cirrhosis of the liver due to excessive drinking. Her judgment was to match her sin. She was going to reap what she sowed. That speaks volumes, doesn’t it?
2. There is the warning to those who gave in to her seductive life style. They were to suffer intensely—a deep suffering, a pressing distress.
3. There is the warning to the children of Jezebel. Who are they? Real children or the ones she had drawn in to her life style? We are not sure, but in either case, they were to be killed. This could mean the chastising hand of God fell on them like it fell on some of the Corinthians believers. Or, it could mean the second death, the judgment of eternal death when we stand face to face with Christ in the final judgment day.
4. There was still time for all of these to repent. Christ still loved and reached out to Jezebel, despite all she had done. He still gave her and all her followers a chance to repent. Christ said that the judgment would only happen if they failed to repent of their deeds. This means that no matter what we have done or how terrible it is, Christ calls us to repentance. And if we repent, He saves us and delivers us from the judgment to come.
5. Note why Christ is going to judge those who compromise with the world and corrupt the church.
a. So that all churches will know and acknowledge that He is the Christ. He is the One who searches the minds, thoughts, and hearts of people.
b. So that every person will be treated fairly and justly; so that justice will be executed within the church and the world.
READ verses 24 & 25. Here is the counsel—to hold on, to hold fast. Satan’s so-called deep secrets means the very depth of Satan’s life style.
There is a great promise in these verses. Christ will put no other burden upon the faithful believer who has separated himself from the world and its pleasures. This could mean two things.
1. It could be a reference to the prohibition laid upon the Gentile Christians by the Jerusalem Council where they were forbidden to ear meat offer to idols.
2. Or, it could mean that Christ doesn’t expect the believer to completely separate himself from the world, not in the sense that he has to live as a hermit. We are to live in the world but not OF it. There are obvious pleasures and sins of the world that we must not touch. But there is a lot out there that we are to use and enjoy as we walk from day to day. Christ doesn’t put the burden of severe restrictions upon us. He only demands that we separate and have nothing to do with things that harm and destroy our bodies, minds, and souls. We are not to give in to the seductions of the world no matter how appealing and attractive they are.
READ verses 26-29. Here are the promises to the overcomer. Two promises are made.
1. The overcomer is given authority over the nations. This is the promise of ruling and reigning with Christ throughout eternity. The day is coming when Jesus will return to earth and conquer all the forces of evil. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the Lord of the Universe. The overcomers will participate in that day.
2. The overcomer is given the morning star. Does anyone know what that is? The morning star is Jesus Christ. He’s the bright and morning Star. The hearer and overcomer is to receive Jesus Himself forever and ever.
Jesus says again says he who has an ear let him hear. Let him separate from the world. Let him never compromise and become corrupted with the sins of the world. Let him never allow a Jezebel—a compromising or corrupt person—to teach in the church.
