Brother Kenneth Yoder
Revelation 2:18 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 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 call-eth 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.
Compared to the other cities, Thyatira was relatively an unimportant city. The church there was probably the smallest of any of them, but even though it was the least important, God still knew all about it. Sometimes you and I may think that because we are small, insignificant, and unimportant that the Lord has forgotten all about us, but that is not true. Every place where God's people gather together is important to the Lord.
Thyatira, in comparison to some of these other congregations, suffered little persecution. There is no mention at all concerning any suffering coming from the government, the Roman Empire.
Thyatira was not a seat of Emperor worship as were some of these other cities. Another thing about Thyatira was that there were very few Jews who lived in the city in comparison to the other cities, so few that they didn't trouble the church as they had particularly at Smyrna. Because the situation in each one of these congregations was different, it helps us to get some idea of how the enemy works in different circumstances. He has similar methods, but he doesn't work exactly the same way in every place.
Jesus addressed this church at Thyatira as one, ". , .who hath his eyes like unto flames of fire, and his feet are like fine brass." As God's people we ought to study all these various representations of Christ, because these are ways in which Christ relates to His church. He was revealed in the first chapter as the resurrected, glorified head of the church, Jesus in Revelation is different than the Jesus of Nazareth who walked the shores of Galilee, not a different person, but different in majesty, in power, and in judgment.
We have a picture in the book of Revelation that is often hidden to the world in which we live. Jesus is described as "one who has eyes of flaming fire and feet like unto fine brass." Both of these expressions are references to the righteous anger and the fierce judgment of God.
Most think of Christ as one who always reacts in a forgiving manner, but the Revelation brings balance to the idea of forgiveness by revealing that there is a limit to mercy. There is a limitation to an opportunity of repentance. In our lesson, this church had reached that end. Repentance was a lost opportunity; it was now time for judgment.
This is how Christ was introduced to the church at Thyatira: as one capable of righteous anger and fierce judgment. In fact, this very expression of "eyes like unto flaming fire and feet like unto fine brass" is said in anticipation of verses 22-23, where He speaks of the judgment and the great tribulation that would come upon those who had refused to repent.
He said in verse 23, ". . .I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works." First, this brings it down personally and individually. God deals with each one of us according to our works. In verse 18 the expression, "His eyes being as flames of fire" carries with it the idea that He can see the hidden depths of our heart and mind. Now, in this verse 23 we are told that He searches the heart and the reins. It is with those eyes of fire that He sees right into the depth of our hearts.
Notice again, when Jesus addressed each one of these churches He said, "I know your works." This refers to God knowing all about us. God knows every thing that can be known about us, inside and out. There may be a lot of appearances, but God knows what is true. We live in a time when it is difficult to tell who is or is not saved. All kinds of people claim to be saved, living all kinds of ways, doing all kinds of things, but God knows.
Verse 19 tells us, "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," Charity is love, service means service to God, faith is trusting in or faithfulness to the Lord, and patience is endurance. Actually, there is a double combination here of charity in service and faith in patience: love that manifests itself in service to God and faith that manifests itself in patient endurance. This church had much to be commended for.
When Jesus said, concerning their works, that the last "be more than the first," He meant that there was a steady growth in their love and in their faith. He reveals that they had not lost their love as Ephesus had. Ephesus had left her first love, but the people at Thyatira had not. They had continued to grow in their love. They were progressing in the things of God, but in spite of that, there was something wrong.
A church can have many good qualities, yet not be pleasing to the Lord. That was the problem with the congregation at Thyatira. Jesus said, "Notwithstanding 1 have a few things against thee... ." He meant that even though they continued to grow steadily in faith and in love, even though they had endured patiently. He still had something against them.
Now, friend, let me tell you that when God gets something against us, we need to do something about it. You may have eighteen good points and two bad ones. If God and you know those two things, you ought to take care of them. The reason some folks are not getting spiritual help today is because they weigh their good qualities against the bad ones, then feel that God will overlook the one or two things that are displeasing to Him. On the contrary, God closes His eyes to neither the good nor the bad.
We have folks who sometimes only look at the good qualities and close their eyes to the bad. Then we have other people who only look at the bad and can't see anything good. Well, God commends us for what we are doing right, and He also condemns us for anything that is displeasing to Him. He points these out in fairness and in honesty to our souls. We should not close our eyes to the good qualities, nor should we close our eyes to the bad.
Verse 20 tells us what He had against them, ". . , 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." The charge was that they were tolerating Jezebel. The issues of tolerance are big issues. Where do you draw the line? It takes the wisdom of Solomon to know when to be tolerant and when to be intolerant.
This was the charge against the church at Thyatira: they were tolerating Jezebel. This tolerance was a toleration of false teaching, an evil influence in the congregation. Why is that such a danger? Paul, in charging the church at Corinth concerning the person who was guilty of fornication, told them to put him out from their midst.
The Scriptural principle that he gave as grounds for such action was, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" (I Corinthians 5:6). A little leaven has a way of working itself through the entire batch of dough; so it is with, evil influences. We get the idea that evil somehow can be contained, that evil can be tolerated and not affect anybody else. That is not true. Evil, my friend, is like a contagious disease, like leprosy. The Bible compares evil to leprosy. A leprous person was put out and separated from the others because contact brought infection, and infection eventually brought death. This was the sin of this church; they were tolerating an evil influence in. their midst. This evil influence had the potential of destroying souls.
The following statement may be an oversimplifying of a very complicated issue, but we should draw the line wherever any influence would lead people away from God and back .into sin. If the teaching in question has the potential of destroying souls, then we ought to draw the line. We ought not tolerate it.
This church in Thyatira was tolerant toward evil teaching and influence. This evil influence was seducing souls. "Seducing" is enticing, encouraging, deceiving, or leading astray. They were tolerating a woman who called herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce. They were tolerating her, first of all, as a member of the church. More than that, they were tolerating her as a recognized teacher, at least by many in the congregation. They recognized her as a teacher, and she was teaching and seducing people to go back to the ways of paganism. . Now, I do not believe that here real name was Jezebel. I think Jezebel is used as a type. Jezebel in the Bible was a very, very wicked woman. In fact, it is said of her husband's reign that no king was as wicked as Ahab. None did so wickedly as Ahab and Jezebel (I Kings 16:30-32). Her wickedness consisted in the fact that she corrupted Israel by leading them away from the true worship of Jehovah and led them into Baal worship. She closed down the public worship of God and established Baalism as the state religion.
Now I don't believe that this woman in Thyatira was really named Jezebel. I believe this is a mataphor. One translation renders the phrase "thou sufferest that woman Jezebel" by "that Jezebel of a woman." To me that brings out the idea contained in these words more clearly. Woe be to the congregation that tolerates a "Jezebel." Brother, one Jezebel can do far more damage than you can imagine.
Calling her Jezebel would suggest that she was guilty of corrupting the church at Thyatira in a similar manner in which Jezebel of the Old Testament corrupted Israel. This woman at Thyatira who called herself a prophetess and the Old Testament Jezebel both constituted a threat to the continuation of true religion.
Now, verse 20 says that they tolerated Jezebel to teach and seduce Christ's servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. There is a whole-some tolerance, and there is an unhealthy tolerance. Some people believe that all tolerance is good and that all tolerance comes from love. The same people believe that ail intolerance comes from a bad heart. Nothing could be further from the truth. All intolerance is not bad, nor is all tolerance good. The Bible teaches us that there are things which God will not tolerate, things that He will not put up with at all.
To tolerate an individual does not necessarily mean the church itself accepts his teachings. You can tolerate somebody even when you don't accept his teachings. When Jesus said that they suffered this woman to teach and seduce, He wasn't accusing the church of accepting her teachings, nor was He charging the church with adopting her life style. Notice, Jesus said, ". .. unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine . . ." (verse 24).
These had not accepted this doctrine, yet they were tolerant toward it. Tolerance simply means that they allowed her influence to go on unchallenged and unchecked. Even though the greater part of the church did not accept her teachings or adopt her life style, yet certainly some in the congregation did. Her children are referred to here as those who were following her teachings. There were some who did follow her teachings, and however many or few they were the church was simply tolerating them. The church recognized the evil influence of her teaching, but they refused to deal with her as the Word of God teaches us to deal with evil influences. Whenever this happens, there is always a group formed within the church that will follow the false teachings. Once that group is formed, the church simply is content to allow them to continue as members. This scene has been repeated tens of thousands of times in the history of the church.
Did you know that churches can be wrecked by this tolerant spirit? Let me tell you something, friend, if we allow known evil influences to exist among us that would lead people away from God, we are not guiltless in the sight of God. God dealt with this tolerant attitude in a very severe manner.
Let me draw a comparison here between Ephesus and Thyatira. The church at Ephesus had successfully resisted these false teachers, but in the process and in the conflict, the opposite evil had occurred. We have to guard against both evils at the same time. The church at Ephesus had lost their love and had become harsh and unloving because of the conflict with false teachers. It's difficult and dangerous work to keep false teachers and false influence out of a congregation. The danger we must guard against is losing our love.
Here at Thyatira they were exposed to the opposite evil, tolerating this false teacher. Their tolerance of this false teacher had led to spiritual deterioration within the church. People were eating things sacrificed to idols and committing immorality. Several centuries have passed since this was written, and it's hard for us to believe that Christians would be engaged in things such as these. We take it for granted that if a person is a Christian, they are not immoral at all.
Some of these conditions are not so far away from us today. Immorality probably takes about as many people today as anything else does. People today face temptations to immorality, so it is not as irrelevant as you might at first think.
We have to guard against both dangers: a loss of love and being overly tolerate. In our conflict against sin and compromise, we have to be careful that we don't become harsh. One of the things that is grieving many of God's people today is the cruelty and the harshness with which some pastors rule their congregations. A common complaint that I hear today is against harshness and cruelty which comes from the pulpit. In too many cases, the frustrations of the battle have pushed the preacher over the brink. The opposite danger is of becoming so tolerant that we allow influences in the congregation to lead people astray from God.
This woman called herself a prophetess. Prophets were highly regarded in the New Testament church. In fact, there were only two foundational gifts given to the church, apostles and prophets. On the foundation of the apostles and prophets the whole structure was built, and these are foundational gifts.
First Corinthians 14:4 tells us, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." We often think of a prophet as someone who predicts future events. That is the office of an Old Testament prophet, but in the New Testament, they were more inspired teachers than predictors of future events. If you remember, there was no written New Testament at that time. The Holy Spirit, to fill that gap, inspired prophets to teach the truth.
These two offices of apostles and prophets were the human medium through which God's revelation came to the church. We read in Ephesians 3:5, "Which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit."
Ephesians 2:20 tells us, talking about the church of God, "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Now, you and I have no part in the foundation. The foundation already has been laid. We have a part in the building, but not in the foundation. Anybody who claims to get a brand new revelation from God is mistaken. The revelation is closed. We have the New Testament, and what you and I receive is what has already been revealed. We have it taught and revealed to us by the Spirit and from the written Word of God.
When this woman claimed to be a prophetess it meant that she had a claim to a special revelation inspired by the Spirit. This sounds exciting, but we always need to exercise caution as the Scriptures teach us. Listen with a critical ear and judge whether or not it came from God. They were cautioned to judge and test prophets back then. Paul said that if something was revealed to someone, they were to be given liberty to express themselves, but the listeners were to judge it (I Corinthians 14:29). We are not supposed to accept something just because a person says that God showed it to him. We must judge to see if it lines up with the truth and God's written revelation.
When she claimed to be a prophetess, it meant that she claimed special revelation, that she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. This claim is what gave her the ability to deceive the people. Some people feel that nobody can ever lead God's people astray, but they are mistaken. They believe such is impossible, and they rest in the false security that the Spirit of God is going to take care of them. When somebody is teaching something wrong they believe that the Spirit will always warn them of the deception. If you don't know the Bible, you have no security at all. The only thing that keeps people from deception is knowing the truth.
What does the Bible mean when it instructs us to try the spirits? Some people feel that if it is exciting and makes you feel good that it is of God. That is not necessarily so. The trial is whether or not it lines up with God's Word. When he said to try the spirits, he didn't mean to judge people by their friendliness or even their zeal. These are good qualities, but they are not the basis for this trial.
It must have been a relief for some people at Thyatira to find out from this "Jezebel" that they didn't have to give up going to the pagan temple and enjoying certain celebrations. In that era there were no restaurants and the pagan temples were used for many public and private celebrations. "Eating things sacrificed unto idols" refers to attending a feast in an idol temple. These feasts were the regular practice of public holidays and private celebrations such as marriages and birthdays.
The people at Thyatira attended these feasts all their life before they were converted. The problem was that at these feasts, idolatry and sexual immorality were often involved. The meal was eaten in the presence of the idol. Normally a portion of the food was offered as sacrifice to the idol whose temple was being used to invoke his presence and blessing upon the celebration.
The thing that really complicated the matter for Christians was that immorality often followed in the chambers of the temple. After these feasts, many pagans partook of immorality without any shame or guilt of conscience whatsoever. It was part of their culture and life style. Some in the church didn't see any harm in attending these public or private celebrations even though they were held in a pagan temple.
They argued that pagan gods had no real existence; therefore, participation in such feasts was not idolatry. They contended that there was no compromise of Christian principle and that they were simply being a part of their community. The danger involved here, however, was the immorality that often followed these feasts presented a tremendous temptation.
They were accustomed to feasting in these pagan temples and eating things sacrificed to idols. The immorality that followed in the chambers in the temple was a part of the pagan's life style. When a man became a Christian, he separated from that life style. The pressure came when pagan relatives tried to persuade him to attend private celebrations at the pagan temple,
Paul said in I Corinthians 8:4 and 7: "As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled." They argued that since an idol has no existence, participation was no compromise.
The danger, however, was the possibility of leading people back to idolatry. Paul said in verses 10-11: "For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish...?" This was a serious matter because it involved idolatry and immorality. It involved the possibility of losing their souls.
This false teacher, "Jezebel," was teaching that it was all right to eat things sacrificed to idols and even to engage in the immorality that followed. Her teachings were in direct contradiction to what the apostles and prophets had decreed at Jerusalem.
Let's read Acts 15:28-29: "For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well," The two most important of these restrictions was to abstain from meat offered to idols and to keep from fornication. In the idolatrous and immoral Greek world, they were often linked together.
Notice the similarity between what Jesus said and the words of the apostolic decrees; "lay upon you no greater burden" (Acts 15: 28) and "put upon you none other burden" (Revelation 2:24}. There is a direct reference to the apostolic decree. This simply meant to shun pagan feasts and the accompanying immorality.
Now, this had been going on for a long time at Thyatira. God had given her space to repent, and she didn't repent I don't know how long it went on, but God is long-suffering. He is not short on patience, but His patience does have a limit. He gave them a time to repent and they repented not. It means that God had warned and called to repentance without any success, and now was the time for judgment.
Here is the judgment: "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 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" (Revelation 2:22-23).
This meant that God was going to inflict suffering and death upon those people. Being cast into a bed has reference to a sick bed; it is being afflicted with illness. Now, this does not mean that every time someone is sick that it is a sign of God's judgment. I do want to tell you, however, that God does use physical illness for judgment. I would not want to misjudge anyone, but I must not fail to preach the whole truth. God sometimes inflicts with physical illnesses as judgment. In the Old Testament, again and again, God brought plagues, diseases, and illnesses on many people in judgment.
Someone may say, "I can't believe that God would do such a thing." Well, then you don't know the God of the Bible. The god you worship is just a figment of your imagination; he does not exist. The God of the Bible brings judgment on sin. He gives people an opportunity to repent, but if it is without success, He brings judgment.
The church at Corinth was partaking of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. Paul warned them in I Corinthians 11:27-30: "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." We know that everybody is going to die sometime and that people are going to have sicknesses, but there is such a thing as being afflicted by God with physical illness as judgment against sin.
This is what was threatened in the way of judgment against "Jezebel," physical illness, disease, and death. There are three groups mentioned here. Number one, the prophetess herself, because she was the leader, was to be cast into a sick bed. Second of all, those who commit adultery with her, her associates, were to go into great tribulation, meaning great suffering. Thirdly, her children, or her followers, were to be killed with death. In every case where there is evil influence, there is a leader, associates, and followers. And, brother, there is a judgment of God against all of them.
Notice what Jesus said in verse 23, that He would bring this judgment in such a way that all the churches would know. We need some obvious judgment of God today. We need some old-fashioned fear of God put in us. We have people who are destroying God's flock and spreading an evil influence, and we need to see the obvious hand of God's judgment.
There was an obvious judgment brought on Ananias and Sapphira. Do you know what it did for that church? It sobered it and put a godly fear on it. No false person even dared to join themselves to them. We need a judgment so dramatic that people can see that Christ is still the head of the church and in charge, and that men can't do what they please and get by.
We need to notice how far-reaching this judgment was. It was not only on the leader, but also on the associates and the followers. It was a judgment of intensely great suffering. "Great tribulation" are the words in the text. Similar affliction was put on the followers as on the leaders.
When judgment comes, it is going to fall on those who have accommodated themselves to worldly, sinful practices. Those Christians among us today who have adjusted their standards and their life style to accommodate themselves to the unbelieving world in which we live are in danger of judgment. I believe we have forgotten that the living God judges sin. I believe that before those who are guilty of these things, there lies an awful, terrifying experience of the judgment of God.
I am convinced that we are now suffering the judgments of God. Already, as a fellowship, we are suffering the judgment of God. There are people paying a price that they thought they would never have to pay. I believe it is the judgment of God. Some people blame the devil, but I see the hand of God in many of these things. God is repaying. Part of the cost is broken fellowships and the loss of our children, losses that can never again be regained.
It is going to cost us more than you can imagine. What are we going to pay for our slander? Speaking, in a very general sense, we have lived in the midst of slander and lies. We have talked about one another, run one another down, and brother, it has a price, I mean to tell you, we are beginning to reap it. God is still alive; we are dealing with a living God, a God of holiness and justice.
We are faced with two dangers, one from tolerance and one from intolerance. We have to stay balanced. We need to study God's Word as we have never studied it before. We have to find some solutions, and we have to stay balanced. We have to find out where to draw the line, and the Bible is the only thing we have to guide us. 1 respect your opinions, but I demand that your opinion be based on the Scriptures, and you may demand that mine be also.
If we don't start drawing some lines, evil influences will gain control. We need to draw a line and say, "We are not going to tolerate this!" It means that we are not going to tolerate, recognize, or allow false teachings to be taught. We are not going to allow it to go on unchecked.
Let's stand for God. As many of you as have not submitted to Jezebel's teachings, who have not accommodated your standards and life styles to an unbelieving world, hold fast. Let’s live for God. Let's pray that God would keep us from both regions of spiritual death. Let's not go to the harshness of critical, unloving, cold legalism. On the other hand, let's not give in to yielding, tolerant compromise. May God keep us balanced and give us wisdom to hold on to the things that really and truly matter. *end*