Thyatira: The Church of Overt Compromise

Well, I want to begin with a question this morning, and it's a simple question.

What is it that can kill a church?

What can kill a church?

What is it that can set a church's destiny toward failure?

We often think of church ministries in that kind of context, using that kind of terminology

as either a success or as a failure.

Of course, we want to achieve success, and of course, there are many who do not do that.

They fail.

But what is it that actually does that?

What actually brings a church to the point of death?

What can kill it?

And people have come up with all kinds of answers for that, and depending on what your passion

and context is may affect how you would answer that question.

A marketing strategist might conclude that what will quickly kill a church is poor messaging,

or maybe in our context, a weak presence on social media or on the web, that those are

the things that will quickly kill a church.

If you don't get those things right, nobody's going to come.

Nobody's going to take you serious, and there's no way you can succeed.

Church growth experts might take a different direction.

They may say, well, that's probably important, but it's not just that.

Maybe it's an insistence on a lack of contextualization that you are not enough like the community that

you're in in order for you to succeed as an organization.

Or perhaps your programming is not as elaborate as maybe it should be to actually be attractive

to people, or maybe you're not providing engaging experiences that are helpful and encouraging,

and those things will surely lead a church to fail.

Of course, historically, those outside of the church for many times throughout history have

said, well, the best way to kill a church is to actually literally kill it.

And that's what the people in these churches that were studying in Revelation 2 and 3 were facing.

The fight against them was actually a fight for their very lives.

And so we could answer that in a lot of different ways.

But here's how we want to frame the question for us this morning.

What does Jesus say will kill a church?

What does Jesus conclude makes a church destined for failure?

And as we come to the messages to these seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, we find really,

generally, Jesus is giving two answers to that question.

The first thing that Jesus says will kill a church is spiritual complacency.

Spiritual complacency.

And the early stage of this complacency is embodied in the first sermon to the church at Ephesus.

A church that, while remaining steadfast in its doctrine and morality, had abandoned first love.

That's the early stage of this complacency.

And then we find that abandoning first love results in a church like Laodicea,

which is the final church that we'll study in chapter 3.

Laodicea was self-deceived.

They thought themselves to be prosperous.

They thought everything was grain.

But Jesus presents himself as on the outside of the church looking in.

And so we see spiritual complacency is the first thing that will surely kill a church.

If you don't get the first love right, you're going to end up with Jesus on the outside,

and you're not even going to know it.

But then Jesus says,

spiritual compromise is the next thing that will kill a church.

Spiritual compromise.

At the center of these seven sermons is a grouping of three churches,

and all of them are at different levels of compromise.

Pergamum, that we studied last week in verses 12 through 17,

adopted a subtle form of compromise,

where the congregation as a whole was generally faithful.

They were doing what was right.

The problem in Pergamum is that they were tolerating some of their members

who had subscribed to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

They were involving themselves in idolatry,

and with that idolatry came sexual immorality.

But the church in Pergamum wasn't doing anything about it.

They weren't disciplining the members.

They weren't confronting the members.

They were just deciding,

okay, we're going to be faithful.

They've got their thing.

We're just going to agree to disagree on this.

It's a subtle form of compromise.

Well, then the final stage of this compromise

is in the church at Sardis,

which we'll study next Sunday, Lord willing.

We find that in the first six verses of chapter three.

It represents the final juncture of compromise,

where Jesus declares that that church is dead.

Meaning that almost all of the members in Sardis,

in the Sardis church, were unbelievers.

But at the center of this grouping is this church in Thyatira,

which was not yet guilty of a deadly compromise,

but it had moved beyond the subtle compromise

to an overt compromise, a blatant compromise.

So that in contrast to Pergamum,

the church in Thyatira had moved from tolerating errant members

to legitimizing false teachers.

So they've taken the step down the road toward further compromise.

As a whole, the congregation was accomplishing some noteworthy work

in the name of Christ, as we read here.

But it had become doctrinally and morally factious.

Some of the people remained faithful to the Lord,

while many were being seduced into problematic doctrines.

But even the faithful remnant in the church

was not fulfilling its responsibility

to discipline and exclude the false teacher and her disciples.

Things are starting to spiral out of control in Thyatira,

and Jesus comes in as that great eschatological king

prepared to unleash his judgment on this church

and on all of those in the church

who remained in a state of unrepentance.

Now for Lakeside, Lakeside Bible Church,

to succeed in the biblical sense of that word,

we're going to have to learn what truly matters

and what truly doesn't matter.

We can be grateful for marketing strategies.

We can be grateful for programming

that would be honoring to the Lord

and helpful and encouraging to people.

We can be grateful for all of those things.

But at the end of the day,

those are not the things that ultimately matter.

At the end of the day,

what matters is that we are faithful,

faithful to the word,

faithful to the Lord and to our Savior.

And this complacency and compromise

that we see in five of the seven churches,

if we don't get a hold of it in our own church,

it's going to kill us.

It's going to kill us.

Now, in all the sermons,

there's a glorious promise that we get to at the end

for all of those who conquer.

But then what we find overwhelmingly true

in this particular message

is that the church that compromises

sets itself up as an enemy of Jesus,

destined for death.

Okay?

So let's dig in.

Let's first look at the church's identity

in the Christ title here in verse 18.

Would you read it with me?

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.

So Thyatira is the city which,

as we understand it,

was not an incredibly significant city

in terms of politics or religion,

different from some of the churches

that we've studied thus far.

They participated, of course,

as all of these cities did

in the imperial cult of Rome.

But the patron god of Thyatira was Apollos,

who was known in Greek mythology

to be the son of Zeus.

But the city of Thyatira was really identified.

They found their identity economically.

Textiles and metalwork

were the primary resources produced by this city.

In fact, the most famous Thyatiran person

in the scripture,

you'll find in Acts chapter 16,

Acts 16 · chapter mention

it was a lady named Lydia.

Do you remember?

She was in Philippi at the time.

Paul goes on.

She is worshiping with a group of Jewish women.

And what is it that Luke tells us

as an identifying marker of this woman, Lydia?

That she is a seller of purple from Thyatira.

She was a seller of fine linen.

That was what her identity was wrapped up in

at that point in her life.

Well, why was her identity wrapped up in that?

Because the identity of her community

and her culture in Thyatira

was wrapped up in the economics

of fruitful business.

The city was known for its prevalence

of trade guilds,

which were common in all of the cities,

but especially in Thyatira.

These trade guilds were like business networks

akin somewhat to a modern labor union.

There were a vast array of guilds

that a person could join.

Brian could join the floor layers guild

if he wanted to.

And some of you tech engineers

could enjoy the guild

of whatever it is that you do

that I don't understand.

And there's all kinds of vast arrays of this.

Here's the thing with the trade guilds.

Each one has a deity

attached to its business.

And a part of the guild feast

and celebrations that were routine

in order to belong to this club

or this membership

for your business to succeed

involved pagan worship

that led to pagan ritual and practices.

That's the dilemma

that the people in Thyatira

begin to face.

At the heart of the sin

that Jesus confronts in Thyatira

is probably the dilemma

that these Christians are facing

with the trade guilds

where they have to make a decision

at some point in their life.

Am I going to commit

to being successful in my business

and providing a good living

for my family

which means that I've got to go

and be a part of these feasts

where I'm participating

even reluctantly

in pagan worship of idolatry

that in those days

immediately would lead

into public displays of immorality.

Am I going to do that

in order to put food on the table?

Or am I going to stay faithful to Christ

refuse those things

and face the threat

not only of death

in terms of persecution

but I'm going to be an outcast.

I have no way

to be successful now

in the culture of business

in which I live.

That's their dilemma.

So it would be easy

to come to a passage like this

and think

how could this church do that?

How could they be so guilty

of such terrible sin?

And then you find out

what some of the men

in that church

probably were facing

was the very fact

of whether or not

they were going to be able

to put food on the table.

And is your worship

worth that type of struggle

in your life?

That's what they were facing.

Well let's think about

the Christ titles here.

Jesus in self-revelation

this is not the titles

that John is ascribing to Jesus

but Jesus is telling

through John

this is who I am.

He says

that he is the son of God

that he has eyes

like a flame of fire

and his feet

are like burnished bronze.

Well what is that all about?

Well it's partially

a polemic

against the culture

of Thyatira.

They worshipped Apollos

and the Caesars

who viewed themselves

as sons of gods.

Jesus comes to them

as the actual

son of God.

The one with true authority

over the people

and the cities

and the nations.

But these titles

are also an allusion

to two Old Testament texts.

One is a messianic psalm

Psalm 2

the other is a messianic prophecy

from Daniel chapter 10.

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

Now we emphasize messianic

because that's the purpose

of those passages

and that's why Jesus

is using them here.

Let me just read them to you.

Psalm chapter 2

Psalms 2 · chapter mention

and verse 7

says this

The Lord said to me

you are my son

today I have begotten you.

That is not a reference

to David.

That is a messianic psalm.

It's a reference

to the future king

that will come

the serpent slayer

from Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

that will come

and will redeem his people.

Okay?

Then we see

in Daniel chapter 10

Daniel 10 · chapter mention

again speaking

of this coming Messiah

his body was like barrel

his face

like the appearance

of lightning

his eyes

like flaming torches

his arms and legs

like the gleam

of burnished bronze.

So Jesus is using

the Old Testament

as his own self-revelation

here to basically

turn the minds

of the people

back to these passages

and to say

that's me

I am the son of God

I am the one

who is

who was

proclaimed to come.

Now that his eyes

are like flames

of fire

refers to his omniscience

that he sees all

that he knows

all things.

That his feet

are like

burnished bronze

probably has

somewhat to do

with the city

of Thyatira

and their businesses

and dealings

with metal work

but it also reflects

his absolute purity

especially

in terms of judgment.

Absolute purity

absolute righteousness

as the righteous judge.

So what is it

that Jesus wants

the Thyatirans

to know?

He wants the church

to know

that he

is the eternal king

who sees all

and perfectly

judges all.

He sees their hearts

he knows their sin

he knows their righteousness

and he will judge them

in righteousness

at his coming.

So whenever these

Christians were tempted

to participate

in the pagan rituals

of their culture

they were to remember

who the true

son of God is.

When facing

the threat

of persecution

from those

who demanded

their loyalty

they were to think

of Jesus

as the one

who will judge

the entire world

at his coming.

You see

the only way

we'll ever stay

the course

in this life

is to keep

our mind set

on the person

of Jesus.

no other

motivation

is ever going

to keep us

from falling

into the sins

of idolatry

and immorality

as some of the people

in this church

were falling.

Why is it that

Jesus constantly

describes himself

he's constantly

with these churches

turning their eyes

to him

because he

is the motivation

we have.

He

is the one

who keeps us

on course.

Well let's look

at the commendation

here in verse 19

I know your works

your love

and faith

service

patient endurance

and that your

latter works

exceed the first.

Now works

throughout the Bible

is used in both

a broad

and a narrow sense.

Broadly

works can refer

to works

of faith

that is

referring to

the things

that we believe.

Works could refer

to things

that we do

as matters

of obedience

to the law.

Works could

refer to things

that we do

for others

and good works

and actionable

things that we do

in our lives.

Given the context

of this particular

passage though

Jesus is using

the term

narrowly

and he's referring

primarily

to outward

acts

of good

and that's

further supported

by the way

he describes

their works.

He says

I know your works

namely

your love

your faith

which could be

translated

faithfulness

faithfulness

to these works

your love

your faith

your service

your ministry

and your patient

endurance.

Now I want to suggest

that what Jesus

is really getting at

in this commendation

involves

primarily

mercy

ministry

acts

of good works

directed

toward other people

both inside

the church

and outside

of the church

so that despite

the severe sin

that Jesus

is about to

confront

in the congregation

he finds

that there were

some things

that they were

getting

exactly

right

and it wasn't

only that they

were getting

it right

but they were

growing

in the fruitfulness

of this kind

of loving service.

He says

their latter works

are even better

than their first works.

This is an amazing

thought from Jesus

isn't it?

That what he sees

as being true here

is that this church

is a church

of love

love for people

that comes

from a love

for Jesus.

In this sense

they are the

anti-Ephesus

the anti-type

of Ephesus.

Ephesus

had great discernment

but no love.

Thyatira

has great love

but no discernment.

Both circumstances

are a recipe

for a disaster

for any church

that sets us

on the path

to death.

Now I want you

to remember

that there is

no deceit

or guile

in Jesus

whatsoever.

He is perfectly

honest and just

in everything

that he says

and everything

that he does

which means

that we cannot

come to this

commendation

and pass it off

as if it's

a superficial

commendation

as if it's not

really as important

as what some

other commendation

might be

because that

would be to say

that there's

some type

of deceit

or guile

in Jesus

that cannot

possibly belong

to our perfect

Lord.

Now those of us

who are

particularly concerned

with doctrinal

clarity

and precision

and I am

one of them

we tend

to devalue

the importance

of acts

of service

and compassion

toward others.

We may even

snarl

a little bit

at those churches

that seem

a little extra

committed

to community

engagement

volunteering

caring for the

oppressed

and so on

and we need

to be careful

that we don't

diminish

what Jesus

values

and if you

find yourself

rightly committed

to doctrine

but rarely

engaging

in service

to others

your doctrine

isn't doing

what God

intends

for doctrine

to do.

It's not

meant to give

you a fat head

and an empty

heart.

The doctrine

and the things

that we believe

about God

and what his

desires are

for us

will motivate

us to action

and the overflow

of what we see

to be true

of God

and believe

to be true

of Christ

will overflow

into this

kind of love

that is exemplary

in the church

of Thyatira.

And isn't it

amazing also

that despite

their sin

Jesus still

commends them

on what's good

and right

and this

just shows

you how

un-Christ

like I

can be

because if

I'm looking

at a church

like Thyatira

out of spiritual

pride

there's nothing

good I will

ever find

in the church

not so with

Jesus.

It's amazing

this church

he's threatening

severe judgment

on this church

and yet before

he gets to

the judgment

he acknowledges

that there are

some things

that are good

there.

No one is

ever so just

as Jesus is.

He justly

condemns

and he justly

commends

something we'd

all do well

to acknowledge

and also mimic

his example

because the church

down the road

or the person

across the aisle

from you today

they may have

some serious

issues that

must be confronted

but that's no

excuse for

ignoring

what's truly

good and right

in their lives

and can't

you be thankful

that this is

the way that

Jesus treats

you

the way he

treats us

let's look at

the complaint

verse 20

I have this

against you

Jesus says

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

there's

two categories

of complaint

correction

and consequence

one is focused

on this

Jezebel figure

and the other

is focused

on the church

as a whole

typically

the faithful

that remain

in the church

the complaint

against Jezebel

has to do

with what she

is doing

and teaching

the complaint

against the church

is about

their tolerance

of Jezebel's

influence

so that even

though the

official position

of the congregation

was not in

alignment

with this

influencer

they allowed

her to continue

teaching

and seducing

the people

in the church

that's the synopsis

of the two

complaints here

now let's get

into the

details of it

just like the

sermon in

Pergamum

Jesus uses

an Old Testament

allusion

to express

his complaint

the woman

influencing

the church

in Thyatira

was not

named Jezebel

she was acting

like the infamous

Jezebel

of first and

second kings

and you can read

all about her

if you like

when you get

home today

Jezebel

was a

Phoenician

princess

who married

Ahab

who at the

time was

the king

of Israel

after it

had split

from Judah

so Ahab

is the king

of the northern

kingdom

the northern

ten tribes

and he marries

this Phoenician

princess

named Jezebel

who taught

the northern

kingdom

to worship

the Baals

and all that

came along

with that

kind of worship

she fought

against God's

prophets

you'll remember

the famous

story of

Elijah

and the

prophets

of Baal

Jezebel

is intertwined

in all that's

happening there

she seduced

the people

into all

kinds of

sin

she did

not belong

to the

people

of God

but she

infiltrated

and led

people of

God

into

idolatry

such was

the case

with the

woman

in Thyatira

she might

have been

a part

of that

Nicolaitan

sex

which is

probably

what I

would say

she probably

identified

with

which we've

talked about

in Ephesus

and in

Pergamum

either way

she has

infiltrated

the people

of God

and she

is now

leading them

astray

and I want

you to notice

what she

calls herself

look back

at the

verse

you tolerate

that woman

Jezebel

who calls

herself

a what

a prophetess

she's claiming

that her

teaching

not only

contains

divine

revelation

but possesses

divine

authority

this is

significant

to this

the problem

of false

teaching

always

boils down

to the

issue

of

biblical

authority

always

the

Thyatiran

influencer

claimed to

speak for

God

and that

this new

revelation

or gnosis

or knowledge

that was

coming from

her

negated

and replaced

any

previous

revelation

so that

at any

point

that

Jezebel's

teaching

was in

conflict

with other

scriptures

her

position

as a

prophetess

would say

that my

teaching

absorbs

that

it

replaces

it

it

negates

it

this

is

always

the

problem

with

false

teaching

it

boils

down

to

this

and

it's

not

just

an

ancient

problem

at

the

heart

of

Mormonism

is

the

belief

that

God

gave

Joseph

Smith

a

new

revelation

that

is

superior

to

any

former

revelation

in the

Bible

so they

do not

deny

the

Bible

but

they

say

what

revelation

was given

to

Joseph

Smith

is

greater

than

and at

whatever

point

it

conflicts

with

the

scriptures

we

lean

to

Joseph

Smith

because

of

the

new

revelation

okay

it's

a battle

of

biblical

authority

and

inerrancy

the

Roman

Catholic

Church

they

do

the

same

thing

with

the

priority

of

tradition

and

the

magisterium

that

has

the

final

word

over

the

scriptures

this

type

of

error

is

prominent

in

the

charismatic

movement

where

you

will

routinely

hear

things

like

I

know

what

the

Bible

says

but

God

told

me

to

fill

in

the

blank

if

anyone

is

telling

you

or

claiming

to

speak

for

God

without

expounding

the

scriptures

they

are

a

false

teacher

that

must

be

excluded

not

tolerated

that's

the

issue

with

this

Jezebel

she's

coming

in

she's

saying

I'm

a

prophetess

and

you

need

to

listen

to

me

because

I'm

speaking

for

God

now

what

she

was

teaching

most

likely

had

to

do

with

this

dilemma

with

the

trade

guilds

claiming

some

type

of

special

knowledge

she

led

the

believers

to

embrace

the

idolatry

and

the

immorality

of

their

culture

while

trying

to

maintain

a

Christian

identity

this

is

why

we

call

it

compromise

because

it's

not

a

complete

turning

away

from

Christianity

it is

a type

of

syncretism

where

they

want

to

be

named

as

Christians

they

want

to

carry

the

identity

of

Christianity

but

they

want

to

embrace

the

culture

around

them

all

at

the

same

time

and

this

Jezebel

figure

is

coming

in

and

she's

offering

them

a

solution

to

their

dilemma

why

would

you

not

go

to

the

feast

God

wants

your

family

to

be

taken

care

of

God

wants

you

to

be

happy

go

to

the

feast

those

gods

aren't

real

anyways

go

do

the

things

no

big

deal

you're

a

Christian

you're

a

Christian

of

course

we

understand

that

trying

to

marry

Christianity

with

the

world

never

works

there's

a

clear

line

of

demarcation

between

following

Jesus

and

conforming

to

the

world

around

us

the

Bible

makes

that

absolutely

clear

and

to

try

to

merge

the

two

ultimately

will

lead

us

to

forsake

the

gospel

altogether

and

we

may

embrace

the

world's

philosophies

with

Christian

terminology

but

we

will

not

be

Christian

and

this

is

a

serious

kind

of

compromise

that

will

kill

a

church

and

how

do

we

see

this

playing

out

we

see

this

in

the

way

that

some

churches

are

embracing

the

sexual

revolution

of our

culture

where they

want to

try to

hang on

to their

Christianity

while

endorsing

the

word

would

be

affirming

things

that

the

Bible

clearly

stands

against

it

doesn't

work

and

if

you

try

to

do

that

even

with

the

best

of

intentions

if

you

begin

to

try

to

do

that

it

means

that

you're

going

to

stop

calling

sinners

to

repentance

and

if

you

stop

calling

sinners

to

repentance

then

you'll

tell

them

that

they

really

have

no

need

for

a

savior

and

if

you're

telling

them

that

they

have

no

need

for

a

savior

you've

lost

the

gospel

you

can

have

all

the

works

that

Thyatira

had

you

can

have

all

the

spiritual

emotion

and

fervor

that

you've

always

have

but

if

you

lose

the

gospel

you're

dead

and

that's

what

was

happening

in

Thyatira

and

that's

what

will

happen

to

us

if

we

fall

into

this

kind

of

compromise

now

notice

that

Jesus

fully

claims

these

people

whom

Jezebel

was

leading

astray

as

his

own

isn't

that

interesting

look

back at

the

verse

with

me

verse

20

she's

teaching

and seducing

what

my

servants

my

servants

his

people

is

this

even

possible

is

it

possible

for

someone

who

belongs

to

Christ

to

fall

into

idolatry

and

sexual

immorality

like

these

people

did

here

we

have

to

say

yes

because

Jesus

said

yes

and

what

we'll

find

is

that

it's

not

the

act

of

sin

that

says

we're

not

a

Christian

it's

the

refusal

to

repent

that

says

we're

not

a

Christian

that's

the

distinction

we're

going to

get to

that

again

in

just

a

moment

but

let's

think

about

this

for

just

a

moment

what

will

cause

us

to

fall

into

something

like

this

spiritual

pride

has

to be

part

of

the

answer

right

we

think

that

maybe

we're

above

compromising

truth

and

righteousness

in

this

way

but

then

Galatians

5

makes

it

clear

that

there

is

this

spiritual

war

raging

inside

of us

it's

a

war

between

the

spirit

of

God

and

the

spirit

of

our

flesh

and

the

spirit

of

God

does

his

sanctifying

work

through

the

word

of

God

so

at

the

moment

that

we

begin

to

abandon

the

word

of

God

we

effectively

silence

the

spirit

of

God

in

order

that

we

might

follow

after

the

spirit

of

our

own

flesh

!

And

before

we

know

it

we

are

a

Christian

that

lives

nothing

like

a

Christian

and

we

need

to

be

mindful

of

it

let's

look

at

the

correction

and

consequence

so

again

Jesus

is

providing

two

different

dynamics

of

corrections

the

first

one

is

to

Jezebel

the

second

one

is

to

the

rest

of

the

people

in

the

church

and

we

are

going

to

deal

with

them

separately

but

we

need

to

at

least

acknowledge

up

front

that

is

repentance

like

I

said

a

moment

ago

to

commit

a

sin

does

not

mean

a

person

is

unsaved

to

refuse

to

repent

does

okay

to

commit

a

sin

does

not

make

you

an

unbeliever

to

refuse

to

repent

of

that

sin

does

mean

you're

an

unbeliever

because