Staying Pure In Heart

I want you to think about your spiritual life for a moment. How would you rank your spiritual life? Is it backsliding? Is it stagnant? Or is it growing? We're going to again use the Book of Revelation and a letter that Jesus wrote to the church in Thyatira to examine our own spiritual purity and maturity. This is a warning to all of us today to check our hearts.

Warnings come to us in a number of ways. Some fall into the category of obvious or unnecessary. For example, do we really need a printed warning telling us not to use a hair dryer in the shower? Some warnings come with a sigh of relief. You will understand this one if instead of a speeding ticket, a police officer ever let you go with a warning. Some warnings catch our attention immediately. When the highway sign says, bridge out ahead, or the doctor tells you your current health habits are leading to heart disease, we certainly change directions, or at least we should.

How seriously we take these warnings can also depend on who is giving us the warning. We may not take it very seriously if the warning comes from a neighbor about our health, but if it's our doctor, we listen more carefully. Of course, when a warning comes from God himself, we should definitely sit up and take notice. That was the experience of the church in Thyatira. They needed a change of course, and Jesus warned them what would happen if they failed to change. Let's take heed of this warning ourself today.

Prayer.

Thyatira was not a large city in comparison with the other cities Jesus addressed in Revelation 2-3. It was poorly defended and often overrun by invading groups, but what Thyatira had going for it was its variety of merchants and manufacturing trades. It's probably best known for its purple cloth - the same purple cloth that Lydia sold in Acts 16:14, which is still produced and sold in that area today. Like the city, the church and Thyatira was small, but it was an active Church.

Once again, Jesus knew of the good works in this church but he also had some concerns as well. Read Revelation 2:18-19 - “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: 19 I know your works—your love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.”

Notice that Jesus first addresses the church by identify Himself as the son of God (v. 18). So, Jesus was stressing to them His deity. But He also described Himself as a warrior whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze.

What this is saying in symbolism is that, as the son of God, Jesus' eyes are able to pierce through any facade that people put up and get right to the heart of what is happening - that's what Jesus did in this letter. With feet like fine bronze - a term the local bronze workers would have identified with - Jesus is able to trample any sin under his mighty foot.

After Jesus stresses His authority and power, He first commends the believers for their love, faithfulness, service, and endurance (v.19). He told them that their current works, those things they were doing to expand the kingdom of God, were greater than the first things they did. In other words, their love and faithfulness were growing, and their service and endurance were increasing!

This church’s love wasn't just the casual expression of love we often use to describe our love for certain foods. It was agape love, a selfless Love that spoke highly of what these believers had for Christ. As a result, they lived out those actions to individuals around them. Love was the motivation behind their service, just as they're faithfulness was the motivation behind their endurance.

When we have the same kind of love for Christ these believers had, others are going to see it through our service to Him in every aspect of our lives. We would be wise to learn from this early Church of the ways they loved and served others. They had great faith and they kept on growing in that faith. What this should tell us is that a growing faith is evidenced in our actions. You can't fake caring for someone. If you care, it shows. But if you don’t care, that shows, too.

Now that Jesus has commended the church, He continues in Revelation 2:20-21 – “But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.” In spite of all the things Jesus just commended these believers for, they were tolerating immorality and idolatry in the church.