LOVE LETTERS TO THE CHURCH
Part 4
Thyatira—the Loose Church
Rev. 2:18-20 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
_________________
So far in our series LOVE LETTERS TO THE CHURCH, we’ve looked at three churches Jesus addresses in the beginning of the book of Revelation—EPHESUS (the lacking church), SMYRNA (the loyal church), and PERGAMOS (the lax church).
Now today we’re going to look at the 4th church—Thyatira (the loose church).
_______________
Jesus’s opening words are powerful and encouraging:
“This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze: 19 ‘I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.’”(Revelation 2:18-19)
—So far they’re batting a thousand!
But as with all but two of the seven churches, an encouraging word is followed by a corrective word:
20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.”
We find that almost all of the Lord’s corrective message to Thyatira deals with a woman named Jezebel.
We have no reason to believe anything other than that this was a real woman.
By calling her Jezebel, Jesus may very well have been alluding to the infamous wife of the OT wicked King Ahab named Jezebel.
That Jezebel had defiled Israel by spreading the horrible worship of Baal, and by her immoral practices.
She had also murdered hundreds of God’s prophets, and had threatened the life of Elijah.
The Bible reveals several things about Jezebel:
She was proud,
She assumed authority God hadn’t given her,
She claimed superior holiness,
and she despised authority.
Jezebel was also highly gifted and very persuasive.
When her mind was made up to do evil she was resolute, nothing stopped her.
She was ambitious in obtaining and upholding her own power,
and used manipulation to accomplish her agenda.
_________________
The spirit of Jezebel seems to be different from other spirits that are more “fleshly appetite-driven.”
The Jezebel spirit tends to exercise the most cunning and diplomacy.
It’s diabolical in how it secretly tries to rip apart relationships and churches from the inside out.
Jezebel’s motto is “divide and conquer.”
This spirit shows traits of hatred, seduction, calculation, and manipulation.
FACT: The spirit of Jezebel has again and again wrought havoc in the churches of God throughout the ages.
________________
In fact, the spirit of Jezebel can be found at work on a large scale in today’s church world.
You say, How so, Jeff?
Well, remember, Jezebel was a teacher that persuaded genuine Christians that sexual immorality, and mixing other gods with Christianity, was acceptable.
Jesus said, “that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, teaches and seduces My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
Her message then and now is that a Christian can live in sexual sin just like the world and God is good with that.
_______________
As we look around us today we witness whole denominations caving in to a spirit of Jezebel.
Some of them have placed their seal of approval on homosexuality and same sex marriage, which
Scripture strictly forbids.
One worldwide church denomination has been willing to lose over 6,000 of their churches over their acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle and even ordaining those living this lifestyle.
________________
There are many influential carriers of the Jezebel spirit out there—here’s an example of one.
One very well-known female blogger and New York Times best selling “Christian” author, has thoroughly departed from sound theology and walks in a spirit of Jezebel.
She has come out loud and proud on behalf of homosexuality, claiming it is just another form of love.
In her latest book she spends a good bit of time bashing the church, downplaying the clarity of Scripture, and dissing the necessity of obedience to Jesus’s teachings.
Yet her influence over Christian women is so vast that one women’s ministry leader wrote to church leaders nation-wide:
“The most influential women’s leader at your church may be someone who has never stepped inside its sanctuary.”
“It may be someone your pastor has never even heard of.”
She then heartily recommends this false teacher to church leadership by saying:
“It’s time to be more directly invested in the spiritual nurture of half your church,” meaning it’s time to bring this woman to speak to your women.
_______________
So here’s the thing, whenever you see:
—the teaching or quiet acceptance of sexual immorality in church circles,
—the infiltration of other religions like New Age into the Christian faith,
—the redefining of Scripture’s clear teaching on morality under the guise of “special revelation” given to some self-proclaimed prophet or charismatic leader,
—or high level, divisive manipulation in order to gain and maintain inappropriate power,
You are looking at a spirit of Jezebel at work!
The bottom line is Jesus is informing the church, (particularly the leadership) at Thyatira, that the influence of Jezebel must be stopped immediately!
_________________
The leadership at Thyatira had apparently been intimidated by her, and had put too much stock in her claims of being a prophet with authority from God.
On top of that their discernment was DOA.
They failed to see that the so-called “deep things” of God she claimed to teach were in actuality the deep things of Satan!
________________
So Jesus says—wake up and deal with this!
Apparently by the time of Jesus’s appearing to John with this word, she had already been given opportunity to repent, but had refused.
So Jesus says concerning Jezebel and her followers:
“21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality. 22 Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds.”
______________
So here’s what we learn from Thyatira.
First:
I. The Lord sees everything
We learn from what we read here the reason we should walk in “the fear of the Lord,” which is the beginning of all wisdom.
God sees all—the good and the bad.
Hebrews says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”—Heb 4:13 NLT
“The Lord is watching everywhere and keeps his eye on both the evil and the good.”—Prov. 15:3 LB
_______________
Now—What is the fear of the Lord?
The fear of the Lord does NOT mean we should be constantly afraid of God—filled with terror or dread, like you would an approaching tornado or some terrible storm.
It means we’re to have a deep respect and awe for God’s power and authority.
It is an attitude of reverence and wonder.
As we see Jesus addressing these 7 churches with total knowledge of all things, it enhances our respect, reverence, and love for Him!
_______________
II. His corrections are always delivered in love
Jesus watches over his true church like the good Shepherd that he is.
Seeing all, He sees the enemy approaching and cares enough to protect us.
The Lord said in his high priestly prayer, “During my time here, I protected [my disciples] by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost,”
In John’s gospel Jesus says: “…no one will snatch them (my children) out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”—John 17:12
2 Thes. 3:3 “But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
And one of the ways he PROTECTS is to CORRECT, but always in love to protect us from the wolves!
_________________
III. Repentance brings great blessing
Jesus said to Thyatira:
“But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—the very depths of Satan).”
“I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.” (Revelation 2:24-26)
What a promise!
It’s in line with what Jesus promised in Matthew 25:23…
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”