No Compromise - Part 2

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This is a sermon based on the text in Revelation 2:18-29 that contains the message given by Jesus Christ to the church in Thyatira. It speaks of the coming judgment for the "permission" the church has given for a church leader to teach heresy and compromise.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:
Don't Negotiate With Satan (Sermonhall.com) “A hunter raised his rifle and took careful aim at a large bear. When [he was] about to pull the trigger, the bear spoke in a soft soothing voice, "Isn't it better to talk than to shoot? What do you want? Let's negotiate the matter." Lowering his rifle, the hunter replied, "I want a fur coat." "Good," said the bear, "... I only want a full stomach, so let us negotiate a compromise." They sat down to negotiate and after [while] the bear walked away alone. The negotiations had been successful. The bear had a full stomach, and the hunter had his fur coat! ….”

This little parable has a point that is applicable for every follower of Jesus Christ. The hunter could represent the Christian and the bear could represent our enemy, Satan. Satan is always offering “negotiations” for the people of God to avoid following Christ in every detail and every area of life. However, the testimony of untold thousands of spiritual casualties show that negotiating with the Devil guarantees certain spiritual death and ruin sooner or later.

Last Sunday we tried to cover the passage found in the previous verses of Rev. 2 regarding the church of Pergamos. We emphasized the fact that the risen and glorified Christ urged the church in the town of Pergamos to repent from integrating the evil, seductive and sensual practices of the world into their worship of God. In spite of all the good they had done and the measure of faith that was still active in some of their members, they had compromised and assimilated practices that were dishonoring to God and shameful to the name of Jesus.

Our study today focuses on the message that Christ offers to the church in Thyatira. The message is so similar to what we learned last week regarding Pergamos, I decided to use the same title and just refer to this message as part 2! So let us turn our attention to the last portion of chapter two in Revelation and see what God would say to us today.

As we have been doing with each of the cities mentioned so far, we need to take a little time to learn about the city called Thyatira. (Details and descriptions of this town and setting come from Zondervan Pict. Bible Dict.; The Daily Bible Study Series by Wm. Barclay; Beacon Bible Expositions, T.E. Martin; The Revelation Explained, F.G. Smith)

The city of Thyatira is located about 48 miles southeast of Pergamos (farther inland from the Aegean Sea) and was situated on the road that runs from Pergamos, to Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

It was not a very prominent city in comparison to the other six mentioned here, but it was a city consisting of great commerce and business, especially with woolen goods and the dyeing industry. (Lydia, the seller of purple, was from Thyatira. Acts 16:14)

There were an extraordinary number of trade guilds in Thyatira, which could be compared to trade unions in modern times. “These were associations for the profit and pleasure of people employed in certain trades.” (WB)

Thyatira was also the site of a Roman garrison manned by Macedonian troops and serving as an outpost to help protect Pergamos.

I. A Word of Revelation (v. 18)

In each of the seven messages to the churches, the risen and glorified Christ begins with a description that reveals a unique truth about himself to the recipients of the message. In this segment, Christ says, “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass” This description of the Lord is repeated from what was given in chapter one, verses 14b and 15a.

These words are also the same as the words used to describe the angelic messenger who came to Daniel in a vision after Daniel had been seeking God and fasting for three weeks (Dan. 10:6).

Here in Revelation one and two, the description is applied to Jesus Christ and is apparently meant to represent divine attributes. It appears again later in Revelation (Ch. 19) as a description of the Lord when He returns from heaven on a white horse to finally conquer the enemies of God.

“flaming eyes” – probably a reference to the penetrating vision of God that sees everything, including the motives and intentions of every heart. (cf. verse 23, “…I am He who searches the minds and hearts….) [KJV, “reigns and hearts”]

(Matthew Henry) “…signifying his piercing, penetrating, perfect knowledge….” (A. Clarke) “To denote his omniscience, and the all-penetrating nature of the Divine knowledge.”

There is absolutely nothing that escapes the gaze, attention and knowledge of an infinite God.

“feet like fine brass” – Bible scholars believe that this represents the idea of stability or permanence, power and majesty.

(A. Clarke) “An emblem of his stability and permanence…” (Barclay) “…must stand for the immovable power of the risen Christ.” (A. Barnes) “Perhaps indicative of majesty and glory as he walked in the midst of the churches.”

And so, to a congregation of people who claim the name of Jesus, but have compromised and changed the standards of godly behavior, the glorified Lord Jesus Christ is reminding them that He sees all, He knows all, and He remains strong and permanent amidst all of the change they have accepted.

It certainly would be wise for us to keep this in mind today. The Lord still “searches the minds and hearts” of every individual and intimately knows not only what we say and do, but He knows why.

II. A Word of Commendation (v. 19)

There is really not much difference in the words of commendation given to this church than that which was given to the previous one in Pergamos.

A. He knows their works

Love, faith, service and endurance all seem to be subordinate to the word “works.” (Jameson, Faussett, Brown)

Therefore, we could understand this verse to be saying, “I know your works that spring from a heart of love and deep faith and flourish in the form of service and perseverance or endurance.”

At any rate, these words describe the kinds of qualities that any church congregation would love to be known for.

B. They have made significant progress in all areas.

The last phrase of the verse seems to portray the meaning that their works in all these manifestations are greater now than they were before. There has been significant improvement and progress in living out their Christian faith.

Again, what congregation would not want to have this said about them? It certainly ought to be the goal of every individual and every congregation to be more mature, more productive and more Christ like than they have ever been in the past.

(Barclay) “On the surface the Church at Thyatira was strong and flourishing. If a stranger went into it, he would be impressed with it… Here is a warning. A church which is crowded with people and which is a hive of energy is not necessarily a real Church. It is possible for a church to be crowded because its people come to be entertained instead of instructed, and to be soothed instead of confronted with the fact of sin and the offer of salvation; it may be a highly successful Christian club rather than a real Christian congregation."

III. A Word of Accusation (v. 20)

But… (Nevertheless) The “other shoe drops,” as we might say, and the Lord moves away from the commendation to clearly and strongly state His accusation against them.

The glaring fault that He had against them was their willingness to tolerate the teaching and practice of boldface error in their congregation. The problem was a woman referred to as “Jezebel” who apparently was in some type of leadership position and was teaching the Christians to “eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.”

This was nearly identical to the accusation that was levied against Pergamos. The woman was called, “Jezebel,” as a way of comparing her to the wife of King Ahab in the OT who persuaded her husband to allow her to bring her pagan gods, idolatry and practices from her homeland and incorporate them along with the worship of the God of Israel.

In the book of Acts we learn that the most basic guidelines the Apostles required of the Gentile converts in the infant church included abstaining from eating food sacrificed to idols and from fornication or immoral behavior. (Acts 15:29)

Writers describe one of the potential problems in this city was the fact that large numbers of people would feel it necessary to join the trade guilds in order to “avoid commercial suicide.” These guilds no doubt offered common meals that would include meat that had been consecrated to an idol, and they would engage in all kinds of drunken revelry and immorality. (Barclay, ZPBD, et. al)

It is not clear whether the reference to “fornication” should be understood literally as sexual immorality or as spiritual infidelity.

Some believe that the phrase “the depths of Satan” (v.24), could very well be a reference to a common heresy during that era which claimed that Christians should experience every kind of sin… and accommodate themselves to the world. (Barclay)

This apparently was a perverted way of not only emphasizing the belief that the body was evil (Gnosticism) but also promoting the belief that such behavior exalts the grace of God. (cf. Rom. 6) The practice of faith that does not take a stand for things that are holy, right and godly, will eventually fall for anything that the evil hearts of men and women may clamor for.

IV. A Word of Exhortation (vv. 21-25)

In this section Christ starts off by citing evidence of His mercy, gives a description of coming judgment, and then concludes with encouragement for the individuals who have not compromised.

A. Mercy is offered in order to inspire repentance. (v. 21)

The Lord reminds the people of this congregation that He mercifully gave this ungodly “Jezebel” ample time and opportunity to repent, but she failed to do so.

The Bible makes it clear that many people mistake the mercy of the Lord as the sanction or approval of the Lord. (Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?) When God withholds judgment, it is for the purpose to granting opportunity for repentance and conversion. But, many people assume His lack of judgment is a mark of approval.

B. A day of judgment will come. (vv. 22-23)

The risen Christ warns that judgment will come in various ways. It will involve sickness, tribulation and even death.

“children” (23) – probably means followers or disciples of “Jezebel”.

C. All the faithful saints must continue to endure. (vv. 24-25)

For the people in Thyatira who have not compromised and been taken in by the error of this notorious teacher, Christ encourages them to keep on in their faithful obedience and don’t give up.

“no other burden” – seems to be a similar statement and thought as shared in Acts 15, when the Jerusalem Apostles / leaders said they would put “no other burden” on the gentiles besides the three basic guidelines, “no meat offered to idols, no eating of blood, no meat from strangled animals, and no fornication [sexual immorality].”

In other words, the Lord is telling them something like this, “I am not interested in giving you a whole catalog of rules to live by. I am just asking you to avoid the immoral and pagan practices advocated by this woman and keep doing all the other positive things you have been doing.”

Conclusion:

Have you ever wondered why birds do not fall off their perches when they fall asleep?

The Power of the Bended Knee Birds go to sleep on their perches, but they never fall off. This is because of the tendons in the bird's legs. They are so constructed that when the leg is bent at the knee, the claws contract and grip like a steel trap. The claws refuse to let go until the knees are unbent again. The bended knee gives the bird the ability to hold on to his perch so tightly. Isn't this also the secret of the holding power of the Christian? Daniel found this to be true. Surrounded by a pagan environment, tempted to compromise with evil, urged to weaken his grip on God, he refused to let go. He held firm when others faltered because he was a man of prayer. He knew the power of the bended knee. … When we hold firmly to God in prayer, we can rest assured he will hold tightly to us. --Rollin S. Burhans

I hope and pray that the seriousness of this message to the church at Thyatira will motivate each one of us to prayerfully live as close to God as we possibly can, and not be contented with “hanging out on the fringes.”

Let us sing our closing song as a prayer: Whiter Than Snow