The Lord’s fourth letter is
addressed to the church in Thyatira, currently known as Akhisar, Turkey. It was a commercial city and was widely known
for developing a better way of making purple dye.
Revelation 2:18–29 “And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira
write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame
of fire, and his feet
are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and
thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that
woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my
servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I
gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I
will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great
tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children
with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the
reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your
works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not
this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I
will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast
till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him
will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron;
as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received
of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Jesus identifies
Himself to this church as “the Son of God” with authority in judgment. As with every church, He declares that He
knows what they are doing and that they have continued to grow their
ministry. The Lord commends them for
being diligent to show love as they served others in evidence of their faith as
well as their growth in ministry.
The Lord’s biggest
concern for this church was that they were allowing a false prophetess to lead
others into practices associated with idols.
It seems she was encouraging others in the church to compromise the
integrity of their worship. That is
another area of great concern in the church today. There are many in Christian circles who are
embracing rituals and practices associated with eastern religions, e.g.,
walking labrynths, making use of incense, ikons, candles and atmosphere to
excite the senses, etc. The emphasis is
being given to promoting a sensual experience rather than a Spirit-filled and
led worship experience. My guess is that this “Jezebel” gradually began to
share her personal experience with others and presented her way as the better
way. False teaching always takes the
focus off of Jesus and turns it to other directions.
God
warns that those who had chosen to consort with her in her immoral activity
would experience great tribulation unless they repented (change of
heart/mind/purpose). Implied—Those who do not consort with her will not
experience great tribulation. People seem to ignore the fact that the
Lord sees what is in our hearts and minds. They seem to think that if
they can fool the people with their hypocrisy and lies, they can fool
God.
Note
that every person is held accountable for his/her own actions, but the
effectiveness of the church as a whole is affected when its leaders lack
discernment or the will to exercise needed judgment. Practices that don’t align with the word of God
should not be allowed in the church.
Those
in the church at Thyatira who have not followed Jezebel, who have stood firm
and avoided involvement in her false doctrines and intimate contact with the
things of Satan, are admonished to continue holding fast the faith until Jesus
returns. This seems to indicate that this body of believers was up
against serious spiritual warfare from the “principalities, powers, rulers
of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). Their fight to
hold onto their faith would not leave them with the energy to accomplish much
else. God was not going to burden them with any other demands. God
knows our human limits. He will never expect more from us than we are
able to do or give.
The
“church” in America has made great headway in becoming like the church in
Thyatira. There seem to be more and more pastors of very large churches
with national influence who are more interested in leading their congregations
into practicing a social gospel than in teaching the word of God and providing
for the spiritual growth of the body of believers. I believe God’s word teaches that the church
is supposed to strengthen and edify believers first and foremost. Scripture is clear that the teaching of the
word is the primary source of providing the spiritual food necessary for that
growth.
1 Peter 2:2 “As
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby….”
Christians
who are nourished through the word and edified through the Spirit working
through the body of the believers to minister to one another will naturally
produce Christians who will then go out and win others to Christ through
sharing the gospel and showing the love of Christ in service to those in need.
It
struck me that the Ephesian church had gotten so busy in ministry that it had
become focused on what it was accomplishing and was investing little time in
fellowship with and worship of the God in whose name they were serving.
They were not, however, spiritually malnourished; they were still showing
spiritual discernment and evidencing an understanding of God’s word since they
were able to identify false apostles and hated the deeds of the
Nicolaitans. The church at Thyatira is a mirror of the Ephesian church in
their focus on serving others, but they evidence no spiritual discernment or
understanding of God’s word. The Ephesians are called to repent from
leaving their first love; in other words, they had given definite evidence of
their salvation. In Thyatira, however, most of the church is caught up in
the false teaching and adulterous ways of the prophetess. They too are
called to repent, but that repentance is from a way of life that is leading to
death. The amazing thing is that there are evidently some true believers
in the church who are encouraged to hold fast to their faith in spite of the
false teaching surrounding them.
(to be continued…)
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