The Thyatira church of Christ (Rom. 16:16) was indeed an unfaithful congregation, although as we see later in the passage, there were many faithful saints present here. Such wonderful lessons can be drawn from this text, and I am very much looking forward to this brief study.
In Revelation 2:18, as Christ addresses "the angel of the church in Thyatira," He identifies Himself as "the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass." While the initial part of this description is self-explanatory and a fundamental point of the Christian faith, the latter portion of this description is symbolic and, as a result, somewhat more difficult. Matthew Henry says, "The description we have here of Him is in two characters: - (1.) That His eyes are like a flame of fire, signifying His piercing, penetrating, perfect knowledge, a thorough insight into all persons and all things, who who searches the hearts and tries the reigns of the children of men (Rev. 2:23), and will make all the churches to know He does so. (2.) That His feet are like fine brass, that the outgoings of His providence are steady, awful, and all pure and holy. As He judges with perfect wisdom, so He acts with perfect strength and steadiness." This description of Christ is very similar to that found in Daniel 10:6 (there is so much Old Testament imagery in the book of Revelation).
In verse 19, Christ begins to emphasize the positive characteristics of the church in Thyatira. Through John, He wrote, "I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first." I love this about the Lord, and I think there is a good lesson here for us. It is always helpful to emphasize a person's positive qualities before we criticize them. It makes them more receptive to the criticism because it tells them that we are not against them and that we are balanced in our thinking. As with any form of discipline, there needs to be this positive reinforcement.
As far as what was specifically written to these saints, it is clear that they had many things going for them. While the Ephesian church was told to return to doing its first works (2:4-5), this church was told that its recent works were more than the former. This is how it ought to be. We should be growing and advancing spiritually. We should be doing more now, we should be more mature now, and we should be stronger now than we were before. All too often, saints become stagnant in their growth, and as a result they become apathetic. But like the saints in Thyatira, we must be constantly advancing in our walk with Christ.
But the church in Thyatira was far from perfect as the following passage indicates. And do you know what their problem was? It was not that they openly adovcated error or that they were carnally-minded and sensual. It wasn't that they gave in to all the sinful customs of Asia-Minor, or that they were half-dead spiritually. No, they fell short in that they tolerated sin. They didn't advocate sin, but they tolerated it, they put up with it...they didn't boldly stand against it when it entered the church. Their sin was inaction.
Revelation 2:20 says, "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." Some believe that this woman's name was Jezebel, while others believe that this name was simply symbolic of her character and her beliefs. Whatever the case may be, it appears that she taught the doctrine of Balaam. In verse 15, as Jesus addressed the church in Pergamos, He defined the doctrine of Balaam as the tolerance of fornication and the eating of things sacrificed to idols.
Can you imagine these kinds of things going on in the church? Can you actually picture someone advocating fornication and idol worship? In a sense, I cannot, but in another sense, I also recognize that this happens ALL THE TIME today. Sure, preachers may not be telling church-members to go commit fornication with harlots, but adulterous marriages are tolerated in nearly every denominational church. The Bible says in Matthew 19:9 that "whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery." There are countless religious people today who have been married three or four times, and yet nothing is said. There are cases where church-members divorce their spouses for reasons other than adultery, and then they remarry. According to God's word, the end-result of remarriage in this case is an adulterous marriage...but nothing is ever said. These folks are accepted. The Christian world needs to get back to the Bible when it comes to the issue of marriage and divorce, because the fact is, adultery is tolerated in churches and that only warrants Christ's rebuke and condemnation. This is a serious matter.
Jezebel had been given "time to repent of her sexual immorality" but "she did not repent" (Rev. 2:21). Christ gives us all time to change; that is how He shows mercy to us. Many people believe that Christ shows mercy to us in that He overlooks certain sins, but that is not the case. Christ is merciful to us in that He gives us time to repent. This may involve giving us time to humble ourselves and make the confession, or it may involve giving us time to realize exactly what we have done wrong. Sometimes we pray for loved ones that God give them more time to realize their sin and repent of it. That is an expression of mercy, and this woman Jezebel had been given time to repent.
Because of her lack of repentance, Christ would "cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds." He would "kill her children with death." As a result, all of the churches would know that Christ is the one "who searches the minds and hearts" (vv. 22-23). In other words, Jezebel was in sin and she had led many to sin, and as a result, God's judgment would come upon her. God desired to purge the church of her wicked influence, and He would do so providentially.
But not all of the church-members were guilty. While there were some who engaged in idol worship and fornication, and while there were others who tolerated this sin, there was clearly a minority group within the congregation that had remained faithful. In verses 24-25, Christ said to these obedient saints: "Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come."
There is such a powerful lesson here. When a church develops problems, our gut reaction should not be to leave the church in search of a congregation that is problem-free. In other words, when problems arise within the church, those who are faithful need to remain and do all that they can to fight the sin and error, and to restore the purity of the church. Maybe the church is tolerating some false doctrine, or perhaps the church's leadership is not taking a bold stand against sin. Whatever the issue or controvery may be, we need to fight as soldiers of Christ and not give an inch to the devil. Sure, there may come a time when we must leave, when we've done all we can do and we've given it time, and now we're in an environment that is not conducive to our spiritual growth or that of our family. I understand that completely. But at the same time, we should not be hasty to leave. If we are the kinds of people that leave a church whenever problems arise, we will never be at a church for long because all churches have problems.
These faithful saints in Thyatira didn't leave when problems arose, and they were not told to do so by the Lord. They were simply told to "hold fast" and overcome (vv. 25-26). Let that be our mindset as well.
Local churches today should not tolerate error and sin. We as church-members need to do all that we can to maintain the purity of the church. Do not be complacent. Do not be apathetic. Do not be a coward. DON'T BACK DOWN! These are some of the lessons that we learn from Revelation 2:18-29. If we learn these lesson, if we overcome and keep Christ's works, we shall "rule...with a rod of iron" (vv. 27) and we will be given the "morning star" (vv. 28). The morning star represents splendor and glory according to Adam Clarke. What a wonderful thought!
Will you hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches?
No comments:
Post a Comment