PONDERING...Do not Tolerate Sin: A Lesson from Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29)

Do not Tolerate Sin: A Lesson from Thyatira

GIST: Do not tolerate sin.
SCRIPTURE: Revelation 2:18-29

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

BACKGROUND: A WORKING TOWN

     This town was not as prominent or prestigious as the previous three. As far as it's political role in the kingdom, it was more of a 'battle ground' city. It didn't have any real natural defenses, so it functioned as a last stand of sorts to protect the bigger and more naturally fortified cities, like Pergamum.

     It's real 'claim' to fame was its guilds, kind of like ancient unions of sorts. The town was known for its industries. One of which might have been bronze working (which would add an interesting dimension to Jesus' self-identification here), but the most notable one was dyeing. In fact, Lydia, the first convert in Philippi when Paul was on his missionary journey there, was a seller of purple cloth from Thyatira. Interestingly, the town is now very small, but is still known for making rugs.

     The problem with these guilds was that they brought pagan worship with them. A typical "guild-gathering" would involve worshiping the patron god of that guild. This would involve sacrifices and, often, sexual immorality. To not participate in these meetings was to jeopardized your employment--which was the life of these residents.

MESSAGE: DO NOT TOLERATE SIN

     There is actually a lot of good, but Jesus sees into their hearts. Let's just walk through the letter as it unwraps, and then we'll look at some application.

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

      As we've mentioned before, the title Jesus gives Himself at the beginning of each letter tells us a lot about what is going to follow. Here, like last week, we have another reference to Jesus as the judge (penetrating eyes and feet of bronze). Likewise, He calls Himself the Son of God, modifying the chapter one reference (Son of Man) a bit and emphasizing His divinity. Therefore, we see from the beginning, this church is going to be reprimanded. However, don't just assumed this letter is only applicable to "bad churches" or "bad Christians", at least as we would typically define them.

1. There is good here.

19 “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 

     It would be great to write this group off as just a "lost church". Sure, they claimed to be Christians, but that was nominal, right? They were not saved. It would be nice to do this...because then it would have little application for us "true Christians". BUT, we can't do this. They are commended for some really good stuff. They love; they serve; they endure; and, most importantly, they have faith! (AND, they are doing all of this at a greater level than when they began...so they are growing in these goods). They have faith, but tolerate sin. This is not just a group of lost people claiming to be a Christian church. We need to keep this in mind. In fact, in many ways, as we'll address in a moment, we could learn from what this church is getting right.

2. But... there is some serious bad.

20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 

     Here's the major condemnation: they were tolerating sin. The reference here is to the Old Testament Queen, Jezebel, who married Ahab and led the nation of Israel into pagan worship (specifically the worship of Baal) and sexual immorality. Now, it's possible, maybe even likely, that there is an actual woman in Thyatira claiming to be a prophetess and leading people astray, or it could be symbolic of people aligning (marrying) themselves to Jezebel-like teachings. Either way, the result is the same.

     Now, there is an important note to make here. They are not being rebuked for the lost of the city being sinful (see Smyrna). This is not to say Christians are not responsible for reaching the lost around us. We are. Sins of omission (not doing what we should) are just as sinful as sins of commission. We have been sent by Jesus to share the Gospel. Period. However, we are not punished for their sins. If we are sinning in our lack of commitment, we are held accountable for that. Now, I say this, as convoluted as this may be, to try and clarify the situation here. This church itself is putting up with, and some are partaking in, the sin of the city. They are not being reprimanded because the city they live in is sinful. They are being reprimanded because they are allowing this sin to infiltrate the church itself.

     As I've studied this, the pagan rituals of the guilds has been frequently cited as the source of this tolerance. If you were part of a guild, you were expected to participate in these pagan rituals. So you worshipped with your buddies throughout the week, then came to church and worshipped Jesus. I have no reason to doubt this. Again, the implication are the same: they put up with Jezebel-like practices. AND Jesus has given them (and the source of these sinful practices) a chance to repent, but they have not. So, they know what they are doing is sinful, but they continue in their sin. It is tolerated. I think we can see some applications here already, but let's keep going for just a second.

3. And this bad comes with serious consequences.

22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works,23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

     Because they have not repented, the source will be punished, those following these practices will face tribulation, and those who are the children of sin (as opposed to being children/followers of God) will be killed with death--aka Hell. Though this seems like a general condemnation of sin, there is an additional implication here. This fall will be public. The other churches will see the punishment of these people and know that God sees and does not tolerate sin: I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

4. Yet, there is hope.

24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast what you have until I come. 

     There are those who have not come to know these deep things of Satan (which seems to be what these practices were referred to as by the contemporaries of this letter). I think it is worth noting that Satan's "deep things" are leading people into a toleration of sin, 'you can be a Christian and still...'. Sin is subtle. Nonetheless, there are those who have not fallen victim to these practices, and Jesus expects nothing more from them, but continued faithfulness. Remember, this church is doing well. They serve. They are faithful. They endure. They love. Those who are doing these and rejecting sin, need only to continue in this service--as should we.

26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father.28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

     And here is His promise. You endure, and you will reign with Him. I think the reference here is spiritual because the following promise is to give us the morning star--which is Jesus. We endure, and we get Jesus--the judge, the king, the one who puts all right. We are serving along side, a place of honor we do not deserve, the righteous King of Kings. Sin will not be tolerated in the final judgement, but destroyed once and for all. Remember, these promised are always tied to the same reward--salvation, Heaven. But the imagery is specific to the recipients. Look at how this plays out.

     You are tolerating sin, and it is controlling you. (Remember, you can't serve two masters.) I will give you authority to rule over sin, to destroy it, to break it into pieces. Not because we will somehow become great, but we will be granted to reign alongside the King! Sin has destroyed our lives, and if we are faithful, we will watch it be decimated once and for all. We will have the morning star--bright, pure, true. Stay faithful.

APPLICATION?

There is so much to take away here.

1. Serve with love

     This church got many things right. First of all, they were faithful in their deeds and those deeds were motivated by love. These are good and should be reflected in our lives.

2. Do not stagnate

     Secondly, they were growing spiritually. They did more and were more faithful and more loving now than before. Too often, churches stagnant. There is no growth, and we are good with that. We should not be.

3. Do not tolerate sin. 

     Yet, they put up with sin, and specifically sexual immorality and the worship of false gods. Oh, the implications! We live in a world that places 'sexual liberation' on a pedestal, and it's infiltrating our churches. The Life Application Study Bible puts it this way, "Sexual immorality has tremendous power to destroy families, churches, and communities because it destroys the integrity on which these relationships are built. God wants to protect us from hurting ourselves and others; thus we are to have no part in sexual immorality, even if our culture accepts it." And false gods? What does this world serve? Power, money, reputation. We cannot. How often do we see Thyatira-like practices in our communities? Those who claim to be Christians serve the world all week long, then come to church when its convenient. That is not Christianity.

     Remember, this was a Christian church, but not because of those who were living in sin. Those people had been given a chance to repent and were headed straight to Hell. This was a Christian church because of those who 'did hold the false teaching, who did not learn the deep things of Satan. So, if this rings a bell in our lives-->

4. Repent

     I think it's key that repentance is mentioned here twice. God knows our hearts. Nothing is hidden from Him. When we sin, He desires for us to repent. Otherwise, there will be judgment. Stop sinning. Turn to Jesus.

5. Trust the King

     In the face of so much tribulation and temptation, we serve the real King. Let us never forget this.

Ponder. Pray. Promulgate.