It stood like a lonely sentinel guarding an indefensible post. There were no hills to hide it, no great height to offer any fortified advantage. Yet it held the awesome responsibility of being the gateway to Pergamum, the capital of the province. Protected by only a small garrison of Macedonian troops, the ancient city of Thyatira located 45 miles to the east of Pergamum lay in the wide open area of the Lycus Valley. At best, the defeat of this outpost would give Pergamum more time to prepare to fight. The factors that contributed to Thyatira being a military disaster also contributed to it being a commercial success. And fortunately at this time Thyatira’s only invaders were hordes of traders coming from Asia and the east. They advanced on this frontier time along the same road that led to Pergamum and Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea, Smyrna and Byzantium. Thyatira was known for its commerce and extensive labor union network which played a vital in the social, political, economic and religious life of the city. Each guild had its own patron deity, feasts, and seasonal festivities that included sexual revelries. Religiously the city was virtually unimportant although the worship of Apollo and Diana was prominent. It is quite note worthy that the longest and most difficult of the seven letters is addressed to the least known, least important and least remarkable of the cities. Pliny the historian dismissed Thyatira as unimportant. But Jesus did not dismiss this city as unimportant because He had a church there. And those believers will being attacked, not from the outside but from the inside, by one of their own; a woman who called herself a prophetess. Jesus however called her Jezebel. Today let’s take a close look at this letter and discover what Christ expects from His church.
I. A powerful description of the judge.
A. Christ opens the letter to the church at Thyatira with yet another unique vision of Himself.
1. This vision speaks directly to the church’s problem and His power to overcome.
2. The expression "Son of God" appears only here in the book.
3. It is a designation for the Messiah and is almost equivalent to the more frequently used title "Son of Man".
4. That Christ's eyes are here described as blazing fire refers to his penetrating discernment of the false prophetess Jezebel.
B. Jesus immediately establishes His authority in the minds of the readers who find themselves caught in a power struggle.
1. The believers find themselves facing a decision to continue to follow Christ’s way or the new way introduced by Jezebel.
2. With searing discernment Christ sees past the deceptive teaching being introduced in the church.
3. With strong bronze feet He is prepared to trample all the evil He sees.
II. Christ’s picture of the church at Thyatira.
A. Christ first affirms the strengths of this church.
1. A lesson can be learned from Christ’s approach to His churches, he always begins with a word of affirmation rather than starting with a word of correction.
2. This is so different from our normal approach, we barge into situations with scorching judgments, not knowing all the facts and basing our judgments on assumptions.
3. Their love manifests itself in "service" and their faithfulness in "perseverance" during trial.
4. Christ commends their love for one another and their constant improvement in the areas of faith, ministry and patient endurance.
5. Their present state reflects outstanding progress, but there is a perilous flaw in the church there.
B. Despite the church’s amazing spiritual growth there is a very serious flaw.
1. Christ’s words cut right to the heart of the problem; a growing attitude of tolerance has been allowed to go on unchecked.
2. The speaker's verdict reveals that the congregation had allowed a woman prophetess (a false one, according to Christ's assessment) to remain in the church and to continue to teach the saints to indulge in "sexual immorality" and to "eat food sacrificed to idols."
3. This supposedly Christian woman at Thyatira had claimed to be a "prophetess," gifted as such by the Holy Spirit. She must have been elevated to prominence in the church because of her unusual gifts.
4. Only a small minority saw through her pious deception; the rest either followed her or ignored her views without objecting to her presence in the church.
5. This woman at Thyatira was enticing the servants of God to abandon their exclusive loyalty to Christ. Her teaching was no doubt similar to that of the Nicolaitans and Balaamites at Ephesus and Pergamum.
6. Thus the sin of Jezebel was deadly serious because of the depths of its deception. Only a few perceived where the teaching was leading.
7. Christ's verdict continues with his strongest accusation directed against, not Jezebel's perversion, serious as that is, nor even against her successful deception of fellow Christians, but against her refusal to repent.
8. As in the case of Jezebel, Christ's strongest threat to the offenders is not in regard to their sin, serious as that is, but to their reluctance to repent. The Lord is walking among his churches. He judges evil; but he also offers deliverance to those who have fallen, if they repent and stop doing Jezebel's deeds.
III. The letter is completed with some motivating promises for the ones who remain faithful.
A. Christ's only command to the church at Thyatira was probably for the minority who had sufficient insight to see through Jezebel's deception.
1. They are to simply "hold on to what you have" until Christ returns.
2. This small group may have been nearer his standard than any other group mentioned in Revelation because they could discriminate between authentic and spurious worship.
3. The Lord now focuses their thoughts on the future, when at His return the bright side of obedience will be fully realized by His faithful followers as they rule by his side.
4. Added to the words "to him who overcomes" is "and does my will to the end" (lit., "who keeps my works until the end"). It reminds us of Jesus' statement in his great eschatological discourse, that "he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
5. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:13—NIV 2011)
6. Paul's words to the Colossians about continuing in the faith "established and firm" are quite appropriate to remember here.
7. If you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:23—NIV 2011)
8. The proof of authentic trust in Jesus is steadfastness of belief and continuance in the will of God till Christ returns or death comes.
9. The Morning Star may refer to the Resurrection in the sense that the morning star rises over the darkness of this world's persecution and offers victory over it.
B. There is a great danger when we try to integrate non-biblical ideas into our faith.
1. At Thyatira Christians were being led astray by a teaching that basically said that it didn’t matter what happened in the body because it was inconsequential.
2. Believers need to hold tightly to the standards set out in God’s Word and beware of letting matters of opinion become as prominent as things found in Scripture.
3. We need to guard against anything that would lead us away from the church or the moral principles clearly spelled out in Scripture.
C. Unapplied truth is like medicine left in a bottle. It’s there for the taking, you know that it will help, but you choose to ignore it and let the condition worsen.
1. There are four very applicable truths that we can find in this letter.
2. Remember that big problems can occur in obscure places, so don’t allow yourself to be caught unaware.
3. Remember that timely words can really encourage discouraged people.
4. Remember that wrong teachings can come from anywhere so be a student of the Word.
5. Remember that deceptive actions can hurt the innocent. If you find yourself caught up in deceptive teaching, don’t be stubborn—repent.
Closing:
We are able to witness some of the finest athletes in the world each evening on the TV. The Summer Olympics are in full swing and it would be an appropriate time to see the movie Chariots of Fire, the true story of British Olympic athlete Eric Liddle. He was faced with an ethical dilemma. He was scheduled to race on the Lord’s Day and could not violate his convictions. His country put royal pressure on him to violate his convictions. His refusal could have cost him the honor of competing and winning a gold medal for his country. But Liddle stood firm, and was allowed by the Olympic committee to compete in a different running event. He was victorious, in more ways than one. He emerged from the games a moral champion as well as an Olympic gold medalist.
