A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): Pastor John Randall encourages the church to take a stand for truth while being loving at the same time. Today, the church is being painted into a corner by the media, by the cancel culture as being unloving because we are unwilling to forfeit biblical truth in the name of love as the world defines it. Taking a stand is considered hate. Conviction is seen as bigoted fanaticism. Centuries-old Christian doctrine is regarded as discrimination, and such is the case in many doctrinally weak churches today.

Listen, the church must be marked and known by the love of Jesus but also marked and known by the truth of God's word. Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy. Welcome to A Daily Walk. Thanks for being with us today. Pastor John Randall's series on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation continues today with letter number four, the letter to Thyatira.

Like several other churches, the Lord has something good to say. They were loving, faithful, growing, and serving, among other things, but there was something terrible going on in this church too. Join us in Revelation chapter 2, verse 18 as we hand things over to John.

John Randall: Revelation chapter 2, beginning in verse 18. And it says, "And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, 'These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet like fine brass: I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things offered to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.'"

For the fourth time, the Apostle John was instructed to write a letter and to address it to the messenger of a church. And among the seven churches that were addressed, the church of Thyatira received the longest and yet most severe letter of all of them. Now, although the church itself and the city in which it was located were the smallest of the seven, it had the largest problem. When the letter was written to Ephesus, we saw how the church had many things that they were doing well, but at the same time, they had misplaced some of their priorities and left their first love.

Then the church of Smyrna had suffered persecution and satanic opposition. Pergamum had some within the congregation that had got involved in religious compromise. Oh, but Thyatira, the church there had not only tolerated false teachers and their doctrines, but they had actually embraced the false doctrines and immoral practices. You could say that the church's tolerance of sin had led to the church's corruption within. You know, we hear a lot today about the word tolerance.

The original definition of tolerance and the way in which the word is used now are quite different. Originally, tolerance meant to acknowledge that others have differing beliefs, and although I may disagree, I accept that it's their right to do so. And in this way, Christians are tolerant. Unfortunately, the world no longer defines tolerance as acknowledgment that others have a differing belief or opinion. It has now come to be defined as full acceptance and even celebration of those practices and beliefs.

And the problem with tolerance now is that it rejects the possibility that objective truth exists. There are moral relativists that claim that whatever one happens to believe is true or right for them, and morality, well, that becomes completely subjective. And as a result, Christians are being told that tolerance must override their faith. But what has become increasingly clear in this age of tolerance is there is one exception to this supreme virtue, and that is this: it's okay to be intolerant of biblical Christianity.

And why is that? It's because Christianity is entirely opposed to the postmodern ideas that have made this age of tolerance. And under the new guidelines of tolerance, as a Christian, I can no longer disagree agreeably and lovingly, but I must embrace and celebrate what goes against God's word or face the consequences of being canceled. Well, cancel me then. That's fine. But here's the thing: in a real sense, the church in Thyatira was facing that same kind of pressure, and sadly, many of them gave into it.

And folks, listen, there is this kind of teaching that is circulating even within the church, and maybe some would call it woke Christianity. I want to tell you something. Listen carefully: woke Christianity is weak Christianity. Most people that claim to be woke are asleep. But we're awake here today, aren't we? Amen. Listen, the city of Thyatira, 40 miles southeast of Pergamum, was originally established by Alexander the Great as a Macedonian colony following the destruction of the Persian Empire.

But even though it was a smaller city in comparison to others, Thyatira did several things that were desirable things that were exports, such as linen, leather work, bronze, and especially there was this very rare purple dye that was used in the manufacturing of clothing that came from the city of Thyatira. The city also had a widespread network of trade guilds or what we would call labor unions that controlled the civic life. Now, although Thyatira was not a center of idol worship like Ephesus and Smyrna, it did have a temple dedicated to Apollo, who was the sun god.

Also, each of the labor unions had their own unique patron false deity that they worshipped. And in the worship of these false gods, there would be feasts and seasonal celebrations that often included sexual immorality. Listen, it wasn't easy to be a Christian in Thyatira. If you chose not to participate or tolerate the pagan festivities, you were shamed. Furthermore, if you weren't a member of the trade guilds, you couldn't get work, which made it virtually impossible for you to make a living.

We don't know how this church was established in Thyatira. However, it would appear that from the book of Acts chapter 16, when the Apostle Paul went down to the area of Macedonia, he met a group of women there who were having a prayer meeting at the water's edge. And one of the ladies who was there, her name was Lydia, and she was well-known for selling this purple dye that came from Thyatira. And many people suggest that perhaps it was because of her testimony and the business that she had that it actually made an impact in this church there in Thyatira and was part of how it got started.

But needless to say, the letter opens and we see, as we have in all these other letters in Revelation, that it starts out with an introduction from the author to the congregation. Notice verse 18: "To the angel," that's the messenger or the pastor, "to the church of Thyatira write these things." Who's this letter coming from? From the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. Now folks, if you've been studying with us through this letter and through this epistle, rather, this book of Revelation, you know that within each letter there is a description given of Jesus that was taken from Revelation chapter 1.

And within each characteristic that is emphasized, it actually reflected a specific need that that particular church had that Jesus was writing to. And so Jesus opens up this letter to the church of Thyatira stating that he is the Son of God. By the way, this is the only reference in the book of Revelation to Jesus being the Son of God, but it's a reference to his deity. When John saw Jesus there in Revelation 1, he called him the Son of Man, which emphasized his humanity. Oh, but Jesus wasn't just fully man, he was fully God. And so here Jesus establishes his authority as God and writes to this church declaring that he is the Son of God.

By the way, Jesus is not God's son in the sense of a human father and a son. God did not get married and have a son. Jesus is God's son in the sense that he is God manifest in human form. The Son of God is God. The Bible tells us in John's Gospel chapter 1, verse 1: "In the beginning was the Word," that is Jesus, "and the Word," it says, "was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word," Jesus, "he became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Jesus was God in human flesh.

And this church had drifted away from the true worship of the Son of God and began to worship the sun god. The deity, sovereignty, and authority of Jesus Christ had to be reestablished within this corrupted congregation. But Jesus not only describes himself as the Son of God, but also notice he says here that his eyes were like a flame of fire. Please note it says *like* a flame of fire. There wasn't fire coming out of his eyes; it was like, it was similar to that. And what did John mean by that?

It describes the penetrating, unobstructed, all-knowing vision and gaze of the Son of God. In other words, there's nothing hidden from his sight. He sees everything. Jesus sees what others cannot see. He sees the thoughts, the true intentions, the hidden motives of the heart. He sees the things that are deceptively done in secret as if they were clear and out in the open. Listen, Jesus sees things as they really are, not as how we want them to appear. He knows, he sees, he's aware.

The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4, listen, there is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open before him to whom we must give an account. Folks, Jesus writes to this church and he says, "I'm the Son of God and my eyes," he said, his eyes were like a flame of fire. But it also says his feet were like fine brass. In the Bible, brass is the symbolic metal which represents judgment. The introduction from Jesus provided a picture and a description for the church of Thyatira that Jesus was standing there in their midst prepared to judge their misdeeds of corruption unless they repented.

And this is a rather different representation than we have had of Jesus before, even in the Gospel record. Friends, listen, Jesus is the Savior and Jesus is also the Lord. But the Bible also tells us that one day Jesus will be the judge of all the earth. Jesus said it in John chapter 5, verse 22: "The Father judges no one but has committed all judgment unto the Son." In Romans 14:10 it says, "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ."

Every person is going to stand before Jesus at some point. Now, if you're a Christian today, if you know Jesus, you will stand before the Lord, but you will not be judged for your sins because they have been judged at the cross of Calvary. And I say thank you Jesus for that. But if you're not a Christian, when you die and when you pass from this life to the next, you will be judged for your sins. And at that point, it's too late for Jesus to be your Savior; he will be your judge.

Jesus wants to be your Savior now, but if you reject him today, he will then when you stand before him, he will be your judge. Listen friends, the cross of Jesus Christ is where mercy triumphed over judgment. Jesus was judged in our place. But if you reject him and the work that he did on your behalf, the work he accomplished doesn't apply to you. And then you will suffer the consequences of God's judgment and be separated from him for all eternity in where the Bible says is a real place called hell. But that's why Jesus died so that you could go to heaven. You never have to experience separation.

Bible says it's appointed unto man once to die and then comes the judgment. As Jesus begins now to examine this church, his opening comments are gracious. He mentions and commends them for what they had done. He said, "I know your works, I know your love, your service, your faith, your patience. And as for your works, well, the last are more than the first." There were some praiseworthy practices that this church had engaged in. For one thing, they were a working church.

It means they weren't idle; they were active. They weren't sitting back on the sidelines watching; they were engaged in evangelistic efforts, apparently. This church demonstrated their faith to the world by the lives that they lived, their good works. Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 5, verse 16: "Let your light so shine before men that when they see your good works, they may glorify your Father who is in heaven." And they were working. They were a faithfully working church.

An idle church, by the way, is an ineffective church. Can I say this to you in all grace and love? A closed church is an ineffective church. You need to open up. Open up the windows and let the light in, and I'd say open up the doors and let the people in. A working church, but also they were a loving church. I find it intriguing that the church of Thyatira was commended for love because none of the other churches were praised for this. In Ephesus, they were actually reproved for leaving their first love, yet they were commended for their lack of toleration policy for sin. But the opposite was true in Thyatira.

The church of Jesus Christ is to be known for love because it's by this that the world knows that we are Christ's disciples, by our love that we have for one another. But listen friend, the church is also to be known for truth because the truth will set you free. We are to speak the truth in love. That is the balance. Today, the church is being painted into a corner by the media, by the cancel culture as being unloving because we are unwilling to forfeit biblical truth in the name of love as the world defines it.

Taking a stand is considered hate. Conviction is seen as bigoted fanaticism. Centuries-old Christian doctrine is regarded as discrimination, and such is the case in many doctrinally weak churches today. Listen, the church must be marked and known by the love of Jesus but also marked and known by the truth of God's word. Truth, listen carefully friends, truth without love is brutality and love without truth is hypocrisy. There must be a balance in the church today.

So the church of Thyatira, so far so good: loving, working, and serving. They were actively serving. This was important. Jesus had said the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all. All believers must be equipped to serve the Lord. The whole body of Christ working together, that's what the Bible encourages. They were serving and if that weren't enough, they were faithful, meaning they were committed to this love and this service, consistent in their endeavors. They were persevering and they were growing. It says here that the works that they did later on were even greater than the works that they started out doing.

So this is a growing church. We think, "Wow, this seems great. What's the problem? Everything, they seem active, they seem like there's a lot of things going on there. They seem faithful. Jesus is commending them." But then as the analysis continues, as the great physician continues to examine the church, he gives them the diagnosis apart from treatment, and listen, it's fatal. It's fatal. He now brings the condemnation when it says in verse 20: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you." And what was that? "Because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols."

The first thing that immediately arrests our attention here is that listen to this: it's possible to be loving, engaged in good works of service, to persevere, and at the same time overlooking things that are vitally important in a church or in a Christian's life. It's possible, listen, it's possible to be self-deceived and carrying on like everything's fine. It is possible to come to a gathering like this and then leave this place and go back into a lifestyle of sin and think because I've come here, I'm good. It's not good, friend.

In fact, it's a little concerning because you're self-deceived to think that everything's fine. It's not fine. It's only fine when you repent and get right with God. Don't be deceived. God's not mocked. Listen, God wants you to get right with him. He loves you. But that's what was happening in Thyatira. Jesus pointed out that the problem within the church was that there was a woman in the church who called herself a prophetess and she was teaching false doctrine.

Jesus referred to her as Jezebel. Now, I don't think that was her actual name, Jezebel. Not too many popular baby girls named Jezebel that I'm aware of. I had so much fun this morning before church started. I see that family in the back. I see you guys. I got to hold a baby. Yeah, that was so awesome. A baby girl. I was like, oh this is so sweet. I just, it melted me. I was so blessed. But her name wasn't Jezebel, thankfully. But the point is this: nobody names their kid that.

But the whole point, that takes us back to the Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 16 through 21. King Ahab, the king of Israel, the worst king ever. And part of the reason is because of the woman he married. Her name was Jezebel, and Jezebel was so wicked because she began to seduce the king and his subjects to rid themselves of the worship of the true and living God for the worship of the false god Baal. She did everything in her power to stamp out any worship of God. She even ordered that the true prophets be put to death, that they be literally canceled.

And so it says here that Ahab, 1 Kings chapter 16, verse 33, said that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than any other king who went before him. That's a great way of saying he's the worst of the worst. And so this evil woman Jezebel that Elijah the prophet prophesied against said, you know how she's going to die? She's going to die, dogs are going to devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. It was a prophecy and guess what? It happened. Terrible way to go, but that's the way she went. Dogs devoured her.

But apparently, there was someone like that Jezebel in the church of Thyatira that had been given a place of prominence and leadership. And this woman within the congregation was given the acceptance of and the encouragement in idolatrous practices, including sexual immorality. This woman's influence within the church led the church astray by breaking down all the moral boundaries from the world. And she claimed to have authority. She called herself a prophetess. This was a self-proclaimed title. The Lord did not validate her ministry, even though the church gave her a platform on which to perform.

But not only did she claim to have authority, but she led others into idolatry. Verse 20 says, "You teach and seduce my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols." She'd been given the opportunity, a position of teaching within that congregation, and undiscerningly, the church listened and they went along with what she said and embraced it. Guys, listen, we need to be careful concerning what's being taught today in pulpits.

We need to make sure that it's Bible-centered, that it's about Jesus, that it's about the scriptures, because in the last days, the Bible tells us that many people are going to turn away from sound doctrine. They're going to be turned away to fables and false teachers. So you need to know what your Bible says so that you're able to discern. This woman came in, created this problem within the church, and they weren't able to discern between what was true and false. And people began to be drawn away.

And in addition to this teaching of Jezebel, there was a popular teaching known as Gnosticism that began to flourish. A heresy that grew in its influence among the churches. And listen, this is what Gnosticism said: it taught that matter or the body and spirit or the soul, they're completely separate from each other. So whatever you do with your body, it really doesn't affect who you are. So you can live any way you want in any kind of sexual immorality you want and it's not really going to affect anything else. Not going to affect your relationship with God, it's not going to affect your relationship with other people. And again, people began to buy into this.

Sad to say that the Lord says, "My servants, my children, true believers that once followed me, they're getting wrapped up in these things." And listen, there are those today, even in the church, that are getting wrapped up in all kinds of sexual immorality. And it is wrecking marriages, it is wrecking relationships, it's drawing people away from Jesus Christ. People are getting caught in this bondage. Why? Because they started listening to it. They started engaging it. They started observing it. They started watching it. They started embracing it and believing it and then practicing it. And as you look back in church history, you can observe various times when the church began to embrace these kinds of false doctrines.

Guest (Male): Well, we thank you for taking part in today's study in Revelation from Pastor John Randall here on A Daily Walk. As we close, we want to remind you that you can hear our programs online at adailywalk.org or oneplace.com. It's also available on most podcast platforms. We sure love to connect with you, and we appreciate your prayers. Here's our email address where you can send your comments and your prayer requests: adailywalk@gmail.com. That's adailywalk@gmail.com.

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We're already looking forward to our next time together in Revelation. It's going to be a great time in the Word. This has been A Daily Walk with John Randall, where you never have to walk alone. This program is made possible through your generosity and brought to you by Calvary South OC.