Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
Matthew 18:6-9

These are the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 18:6-9.
Did you notice as I read Jesus words, how seriously He takes sin?
Because Jesus takes sin so seriously, we should as well.

Here in the beginning chapters of Revelation, Jesus gives the Apostle John a vision and he is told to write what he sees in a book.
What did John see?
He saw Jesus tending to lampstand.
Lampstands that represent churches.
He saw Jesus is tending to the lampstands to make sure they shine brightly for His glory.

This lets us know the purpose of our church.
Annapolis First Baptist Church we exist to shine brightly for the glory of Christ.

How do we do that?
Well, Jesus had John send messages to 7 churches of Asia minor.
To Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
 And to each of these churches, He describes what is going on that is good, and what needs improvement. He gives commendation or correction. All so that the light will not flicker out.

And we have been composing a list to help us know what Jesus expects of us as a church. Annapolis First Baptist Church, Jesus wants us to be:

• A church working hard for His glory
• A church patiently enduring for His name
• A discerning church
• A pure church
• A loving church
• A fearless church
• A church faithful unto death
• An uncompromising church

 
And today, as we look at Jesus’ message to the church at Thyatira, we will add a ninth item to the list.

• A church that does not tolerate sin

Light Lamp. Church, we want to be a church shining brightly with the glory of Christ. We want to lift high the name of Jesus so that the light of Christ will illuminate every dark corner of our community and world around us. Let’s be the church Jesus wants us to be.

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

The word angelos in Greek means a messenger. Not necessarily a heavenly messenger. Most likely a human messenger. With John in Prison, someone would physically have to come to him and receive the letter and take it back to the churches. I believe it very well could have been a pastor or elder of the church.

This message is written to the church at Thyatira, but it is also a message for us today.
Let’s talk a little about the church at Thyatira. So far, we have traveled from Ephesus on the coast of the Aegean Sea, up north to Smyrna. Then further north to Pergamum, and now we travel southeast to Thyatira.

We don’t have any record of how the church at Thyatira began. But we know that according to Acts 19, the Gospel message spread all over Asia Minor when the Apostle Paul was teaching daily in the hall of Tyrannus. It’s quite possible that around this time, the church at Thyatira was planted.

There is another possibility as well. While Paul was in Philipi, he met a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. She was a merchant of purple fabric manufactured in Thyatira. Through the Gospel witness of Paul, she and her whole household came to faith in Jesus. Perhaps, someone from her household took the Gospel home with them back to Thyatira and the church was planted.

The city of Thyatira was much smaller than the Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. The city began as a military outpost to guard the city of Pergamum from any attackers coming up the road to attack it. The soldiers stationed at Thyatira would slow down the oncoming attackers enough for the city of Pergamum to round up the troops.  

After the Roman empire took over, there was a time of peace. The Pax Romana as it is often called. During this the city, settled on a trade route, became a flourishing commercial center.

Unlike the larger cities, it was not the home to numerous temples to pagan religion. Only a temple to Apollo. However, it was home to numerous trade guilds.

The city of Thyatira became a commercial city that produced many products. Like wool, and leather. But the main industry was the production of wool dyed purple. And each of the different industries would have their trade guilds. And each of the guilds would have a patron god they worshiped.

If you were in a certain industry, in order for you to earn a good living, you would need to be a member of the guild. The guilds would have pagan rituals to the false gods that included meat offered to their patron god and sexual immorality.

However, unlike the rest of the churches so far in Revelation, the hostility for the church doesn’t come from outside the church. It comes from within. As we will see Jesus warns them of teaching that Jesus calls the “deep things of Satan.”

This message is from Jesus himself. Notice how Jesus introduces Himself. He introduces Himself to the church at Thyatira in a way that warns of judgement.

Jesus identifies Himself as the Son of God. "The words of the son of God." 
Jesus’ most frequently used title for himself was Son of Man.
In fact, in John’s vision in chapter 1, John sees Jesus “like a son of man.”

In all the other letters, Jesus uses images from John’s vision in chapter 1 to identify himself to the churches. Here he breaks from that pattern and gives us a different image of who He is. Rather than identifying Himself as the Son of Man, He chooses to identify himself as the Son of God.
Why? Because He is warning of judgment.
The title “son of man” shows us that He is God in the flesh who can sympathize with us. For the church at Thyatira, the time for sympathy has passed.
He introduces himself as the “Son of God” because He is coming with judgment.  For the church at Thyatira, it’s not time for sympathy. It’s time for judgement.

The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire… 
Remember those eyes of fire?
Those eyes that can see deep down even into the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Jesus is reminding the church of His omniscience.
He sees all and knows all.
And as He comes to the church at Thyatira, it’s a fearful thing, because what Jesus knows about the church at Thyatira warrants judgement.
In his divine omniscience, He has all the evidence that will bring a conviction.

Whose feet are like burnished bronze.
When someone was brought before a King for judgement, they were placed as the kings’ feet. Also, bronze is a symbol of judgement.

Here Jesus feet are burnished bronze.
He has the power to trample in divine judgement those who are found guilty.
He tramples them with those feet of burnished bronze.
In the Bible, God’s wrath is often described as a winepress.
In a winepress, people would step on the grapes to juice them.
In the bible, this imagery is used to illustrate judgement.
Jesus can apply great pressure in judgement that will crush those who stand guilty before Him.
Crush them like grapes.

If you remember from the message to the Church at Pergamum, Jesus has a sword and He knows how to use it. He will use it to war against those who refuse to repent. For the church at Thyatira, he reminds them of His feet of burnished bronze that will crush those who stand guilty before Him.

Jesus may have been meek and mild during His earthly ministry. But here in Revelation, we are seeing another side to Him. As the Son of God, He is not to be taken lightly. We must have a great awe, respect for Him.

With an introduction like that, you might think this church is all bad. But it’s not all bad at the church at Thyatira. There are some things Jesus commends the church at Thyatira for. There are some really good things going on. There are things Jesus gives them a pat on the back. A job well done.

I know your works. 

Like the church at Ephesus, the church at Thyatira is working hard.
In fact, Jesus says, your latter works exceed the first.
They are not only a hard-working church, but they are growing and improving.
They are doing even more hard work for the name of Christ.

I am thankful for the hard workers we have here at Annapolis First Baptist Church.
We have some really hard-working folks here.
In fact, in some churches, people get paid full-time salaries for what some of our volunteers do. So, I give you a well-deserved, “Thank You! We may not see all the hard work you do, but Jesus knows.

Your love

The church at Ephesus received correction because they didn’t love like they should.
However, this is a very loving church.
They cared about each other.
This is a very welcoming and friendly church.
And that’s a great thing.

I’m thankful for our church.
I’m thankful for how you care about each other.
I’m thankful for our greeters who help people feel welcome.
But it’s not just the greeters.  
Many of you show love towards people and make them feel welcome here at Annapolis First Baptist Church.

your faith

There were some in the church at Thyatira that had deep faith in Christ.
Jesus commends them for it.
According to what I read, Jesus could also be referring to their faithfulness.
The members at Thyatira were faithful.
You could count on them.

Here at Annapolis FBC, we are blessed to have some faithful people full of faith.
You can really see it in the way they prayer.
There are people here you can count on.
They are faithful.
Jesus knows your faith.
Your faithfulness.
He sees and knows.  

your service

There were some in the church at Thyatira that Jesus wanted to give a pat on the back for their service. They were serving and meeting needs in the church at Thyatira.
And I want to say thank you again for those that serve here at Annapolis FBC. Jesus knows your service too. He sees it. Even if no one else does, Jesus sees and knows.

your patient endurance

There were some in the church that was facing trials and difficulty, suffering and persecution, yet in the midst of it, they were patiently enduring.
And there are people here at Annapolis FBC who are patiently enduring. Jesus sees and knows the trials and suffering your face, and how you are still patiently enduring. There are many in our church family dealing with health-related trials. Jesus sees and knows what you are going through. Keep turning to Jesus in faith, finding strength in Him. He will walk with you and get you through it.

So, there were good things going on in the church at Thyatira. However, as Jesus sees with those eyes of fire, He sees not only the good going on in the church, but things that must change.

With those eyes like a flame of fire, Jesus sees things that need correction. He says,
But I have this against you. There were things in Thyatira that had to change.

We want to be a church shining brightly with the glory of Christ, so, let’s look and see what needed to change in the Thyatira church so we can be vigilant to protect against it here at Annapolis FBC.

Jesus says to the church at Thyatira, But I have this against you, you tolerate that woman Jezabel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.  

So, first let’s identify who Jesus is calling Jezabel.
There is a false prophetess being tolerated in Thyatira, and her symbolic name is Jezabel.

In 1st Kings, we read about the Kings of Israel.
Of all the kings of Israel, King Ahab was the worst.
What made him the worst?
His wife Jezabel.

And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
1 Kings 16:30-33 

Jezabel led King Ahab and the nation of Israel into idolatry and sexual sin.

Jesus is connecting the false prophetess in the church at Thyatira to Jezabel in the Old Testament. We don’t know her real name. Jesus is symbolically calling her Jezabel because she is acting like Jezabel.

Let’s look at a few things about this Jezabel.

• She calls herself a prophetess. She stands up and speaks to the church at Thyatira claiming to speak from God. She calls herself a prophetess, but she is a false prophetess. She claims to speak from God, but her teaching is not from God, but from Satan. She stands before the church and teaches Christians that it’s ok to practice sexual immorality and eat food offered to idols.

Let me remind you of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.
What instructions did the Jerusalem council give for Christians living in a gentile pagan culture?

For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Acts 15:28-29

Notice they were instructed to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and also to abstain from sexual immorality. They knew these temptations in the pagan Greek culture would be strong, so they are warned to stay away from them.

This woman Jesus calls Jezabel must have been a very gifted speaker and very spiritual sounding. How do you deceive Christians into sinning like this? She had to have been very convincing. How did she deceive these Christians at Thyatira? Maybe she was bringing in the philosophy of dualism into the church. In Greek philosophy they taught that the flesh was all bad and the spirit was good. Don’t be concerned with the flesh. You can do whatever you want with your body. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what you do with your spirit. You can participate in the pagan idolatry of the trade guilds with your body, then come to worship on Sunday for your soul. You can live one way all week long, then come to worship and get your soul taken care of. We have people that believe that today.

Or, maybe she was teaching a form of antinomianism. We are no longer under the law so we don’t have to obey it today. We are free to live however we want. Just go to the guild pagan rituals. Even if it means idolatry and sexual immorality and God will forgive you.

Jesus however, takes sin very seriously. Remember what he said about people who cause Christians to sin? It would be better for them to tie a millstone around their necks and drown in the sea than to experience his wrath towards them. He takes it seriously.

Later, in Matthew 18, we see Jesus first instruction to the church. This is one of the first times the word church is used in the Gospel. The only other time is at Peter confession that Jesus is the Christ. And on this rock, I will build my church.

Jesus tells the church how to take care of sin.
We are not to tolerate sin in the church.

First, if we become aware that someone in our church has fallen into sin, in love we go to them to restore them. If you are the one who notices the sin, then you as a loving caring brother or sister go one on one to try to restore them.

If they don’t listen, take someone with you. It could be another church member, a deacon or your pastor. Just someone else to try to restore them.

But if they still refuse, you have the church try to convince them to repent so they can be restored. Eventually, if they will not repent, you must treat them like a lost person. Their lack of repentance shows they really do not belong to Christ.

The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth to exercise church discipline on a man in their congregation. We as a church cannot tolerate sin. Jesus takes sin seriously so we must as well.

Jesus will bring judgment in order to defend His glory.
Time is up. Jesus says, I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality

Notice what Jesus will do to Jezabel
Behold I will throw her onto a sickbed. 
She has been seducing people into a bed of sexual immorality.
Jesus will throw her onto a bed.
What kind of bed will Jesus throw her onto?
If you look this up in the original language, Jesus doesn’t say a sickbed.
He just says bed.
So, what Kind of Bed?
I think Jesus is letting her know that He has reserved a King-sized bed for her in the deepest darkest pit of hell.

Do you know what happened eventually to Jezabel?
As was prophesied earlier by Elijah, she was thrown out of a high tower window, and her body was eaten by dogs.
The Jezabel in Thyatira will experience God’s judgment as well.

Those who commit adultery with her I will throw into a great tribulation, unless they repent of her works.  

The Christians who have been deceived by her still have time to repent.
But, if not, they will experience those feet of burnished bronze bring them great tribulation.
This is not the great tribulation we talk about that will happen during the last days.
The time of Jacob's trouble.
This is a different tribulation.
The word means pressure.
Great pressure.
Like the pressure of being crushed by feet of burnished bronze.

Who are her children? Evidently, she was in Thyatira long enough to make disciples. Not disciples of Christ. But her own disciples. Her own followers who continue teaching the false teachings that she taught. Jesus will kill them with death. Another reference to hell.

And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give you according to your works.

Jesus does this for the sake of His name.
He will defend His glory.
He will judge people’s works.

Jesus has instructions for the faithful Christians.
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.

There were some true Christians in Thyatira who did not hold to the teachings of this Jezabel. They had not learned what Jesus called, “the deep things of Satan.”

Jesus tells them I do not lay on you any other burden.
This reminds me of the Jerusalem council.
The Jerusalem Council did not lay any burden on the gentile churches other abstaining from idolatry and sexual immorality.

Jesus instruction them,
Only hold fast what you have until I come.
Stick to the simple true gospel message.
Live in obedience to Him as Lord and Savior.

Jesus makes some great promises to those who hold fast to Him.

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rob of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my father.

This is a reference to the millennial Kingdom.
Jesus will one day rule on earth from Jerusalem for 1000 years.
And true Christians will rule with Him.
And at the end of the millennial Kingdom, when nations rise up, Jesus will defeat them with a rod of iron, and we will be with Him.

And I will give Him the morning star.

In Revelation 22:16, Jesus is given the title, the bright and Morning Star.
Jesus is promising us eternal life in His presence.