Sermon #5 Christ’s Warnings To The Churches
Title: Christ’s Letter to the Church at Thyatira
Text: Revelation 2:18-29
Reading: Office: Larry Criss Auditorium: Bob Poncer
Subject: The Church’s Attitude Toward Heresy
Date: Tuesday Evening - May 4, 1999
Tape # V-26b
Introduction:
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; (19) 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. (20) 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. (21) And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (22) Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. (23) 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. (24) 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. (25) But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. (26) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: (27) 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. (28) And I will give him the morning star. (29) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Thyatira was the home of Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened. It was a place of great commerce, a city with many, many people passing through its streets every day. Thyatira was a place of wealth and power. In that place of great commerce, the trade unions (guilds) of the day were well organized and powerful: wool workers, linen workers, tailors, leather craftsmen, tanners, potters, etc. All were associated in business, in one way or another, with pagan idolatry. Each guild had its own guardian god.The situation there was like this: If you wanted to get ahead in business, you had to belong to one of the unions, one of the trade guilds. If you belonged to the guild, your membership implied that you worshipped its god. You would be expected to eat the food offered to those gods at their pagan festivals. That implied that you acknowledged that you had received the food from the gods. After the feasts, base orgies would begin. You could not dare insult your peers by walking out of their festivities!
What could a believer do in such circumstances? If he quit his union, he would lose business. If he remained in the union, attended the immoral festivities, and joined in the idolatrous fornications of pagan worship, he would be denying his Lord and sinning against his conscience. God’s saints at Thyatira had to face these kinds of problems everyday, much like some of you do. There was a prophetess in the church at Thyatira, called Jezebel, who claimed to have a solution to the problem. She reasoned that if you would conquer Satan, you must get to know him. You will never be able to influence the idolaters if you condemn them and refuse to go along with their religion. You do not have to deny Christ but you cannot expect to get along in the world if you do not accept the world’s religion, or at least accept it as an acceptable form of religion. After all, who are we to condemn another man’s religion? You just cannot say that someone’s religion is false!Proposition: In this letter our Lord warns every local church, every pastor, and every one who professes faith in his name of the subtle and damning influence of false religion.
Divisions: In this message I want to call your attention to five things in this letter to the church at Thyatira.
As we have seen repeatedly, the angel of the local church is her pastor. He is God’s messenger to the church. You will notice that in each church there is but one angel, one pastor, one messenger from God to his people. It is his responsibility under God to instruct the people of God and protect them from the many forms of false religion that arise. The means by which he does this is the faithful preaching of the gospel, expounding holy Scripture.
Ephesians 4:11-14 "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: (13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: (14) That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."
Acts 20:28-30 "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (29) For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. (30) Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
He who is the Head of the church is not some silly old man dressed up in a sissified costume, but the Son of God himself, our Savior and our Lord. He calls himself the "Son of Man" (1:13) to assure us of his love and sympathy toward us. He calls himself the "Son of God" to assure us of his sovereign, almighty power. Our Savior is God almighty; and he is a man touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
NOTE: These two things ought to encourage every faithful pastor to remain loyal to Christ and the gospel of his grace: Christ knows all things; and he has all power. Who or what shall we fear?
Revelation 2:19 "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."
This commendation was not given by a stranger, nor even by a casual observer. It was given by One who was well acquainted with them and with the principles upon which they acted.NOTE: While we must do nothing to honor the flesh and promote pride, it is always proper to recognize and commend faithfulness. To do so is but to follow the example of Christ himself. We should never neglect to commend or show our appreciation for the good things people do for Christ, his gospel, his church, or for us. Ingratitude is always inexcusable, especially when it hides behind the mask of spirituality!
In this nineteenth verse our Savior names five specific works for which he commended his saints at Thyatira.1 Thessalonians 1:8 "For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing."
Those who are most charitable, most diligent in the cause of Christ, and most faithful in the things of God are likely to be the most tried. But in their many trials they display patience. "Tribulation worketh patience" (Rom. 5:3). It cannot be learned any other way. Patience is simply the peaceful, believing resignation of one’s heart to the will of God.
Their last works were better and more numerous than their first. Others had left their first love and lost their first zeal. Not these people! As they grew old, they grew wise. As they matured in years, they matured in grace. As they declined in physical strength, they grew in spiritual strength.
NOTE: These five things are matters of constant concern and prayer to me. I want to...
Revelation 2:20-23 "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. (21) And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. (22) Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. (23) 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."
This reproof is not so much directed to the church itself as it is to the wicked seducers within the church. Yet, the church itself was at fault. She is reproved for her tolerance of false religion. There was within the church a woman who claimed to be a prophetess, a female preacher. No one dared assert the teachings of Scripture and reprove the abominable practice. But our Lord called this woman, Jezebel. He compared her to Ahab’s wicked wife, Jezebel, because she encouraged the patronage of false religion, kindness to false prophets, and the acceptance of idolatry. She seduced God’s servants to engage in the pagan festivities connected with idol worship, including fornication! She did all this in the name of God, pretending all the while that she was promoting the worship of Christ! And people believed her! The church in Thyatira was to be blamed in part for the spread of this wicked woman’s heresy because they tolerated her and afforded her opportunity to preach her damning doctrines.We preach a positive gospel. We endeavor to avoid being negative. But we must never allow any room for the acceptance of any doctrine that is contrary to the gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ. The popular, accepted, mainstream religion of our day is a religion of works. The vast majority of religious denominations, respected religious leaders, and churches of our day, local, national, and international, are unified in the essence of their message. They all preach salvation by man, either by his works or by his will. They are modern Jezebels, deceiving and seducing the souls of men. We have no point of agreement with them. If what I preach to you is of God, they cannot be. If what they preach is of God, I cannot be.
Illustration: The Campbellite preacher - "We cannot both be
saved."
God knows the deceitful principles by which they operate, the hypocrisy of their religion, and the motives of their actions. And he will judge them accordingly.
Revelation 2:24-25 "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. (25) But that which ye have already hold fast till I come."
These false prophets call their doctrines the depths of theology. They love to dazzle men with deep mysteries, and persuade them that they have profound insight into the things of God. They love to talk about prophetic mysteries, the nature of angels, the work of demons, and most anything that intrigues the imagination. Our Lord calls their deep things "the depths of Satan!" (Read II Corinthians 11:3.) False prophets will always draw your attention away from Christ and the gospel of his grace. Their mysteries are the mystery of iniquity, Satanic delusions, and diabolical doctrines. The gospel sets forth the mystery of godliness, which is Christ crucified. Let us never be turned from Christ crucified…2 Timothy 1:9-13 "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, (10) But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (11) Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. (12) For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (13) Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."
Titus 1:9 "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers."
That form of sound words which we must hold fast can be summed up and set forth in six brief statements.
Revelation 2:26-29 "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: (27) 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. (28) And I will give him the morning star. (29) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Those who overcome are those who hold on to Christ’s works, not their own. They shall rule and rein with the Son of God forever.Fallen angels, false prophets, every rebel to Christ’s throne, and Satan himself shall be judged and condemned by our Lord. And we shall be his witnesses in the judgment.
He is our souls’ eternal "morning star" (II Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16). The day star which shall introduce us into the glorious day of eternal bliss is Christ himself! He is our glory. He is our crown. He is our heaven!
Application: