The Tolerant Church (Revelation 2:18-29)

Big Idea: Don’t accept pressure to compromise; the consequences can be serious, but following Jesus brings great rewards.

According to Stephen McAlpine, a pastor in Australia, we’re the bad guys now.

Culture has not only rejected the gospel, but the gospel we share is often seen as bad or even dangerous. We live in a time that overlooks spiritual realities and is increasingly hostile to once-accepted beliefs.

British author Douglas Murray, who is gay and atheist, notes that our major narratives have been collapsing for over 25 years. We have a new religion focused on individual freedom and the celebration of personal authenticity, no matter the cost. It is a religion that runs counter to the gospel of Jesus. But if you stand against this religion, you will be viewed as not only wrong but dangerous. The gospel is "the most liberating, hope-filled news the world has ever seen," according to McAlpine. However, it can lead to problems at work or school as it may challenge prevailing beliefs.

What do you do when you are viewed as the bad guy? What do you do when your adherence to Jesus causes people to view you as intolerant or hateful? How should we respond when pressured to support agendas that conflict with our commitment to Jesus?

This is not an entirely new situation. This seems to be the situation that Christians in Thyatira faced too.

Introducing Thyatira

We are studying the book of Revelation. We are examining letters in which Jesus addresses seven churches in today's Turkey. In the passage we just read, Jesus addresses the fourth of the seven churches. He addresses the church in Thyatira.

Let me introduce you to Thyatira. Thyatira was an inland medium-sized city and an important commercial center. Though it's the least significant city of the seven mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, it receives the longest and most challenging message.

Two things stand out about this ancient city:

First, it was known for its trades. It had coppersmiths, tanners and leather workers, potters, slave traders, bakers, bronze-smiths, and textile workers. Lydia, who’s mentioned in Acts 16:14 as a “seller of purple goods,” was from Thyatira. Because it had so many trades, it also contained a number of trade guilds. Thyatira had more trade guilds than any other city in Roman Asia, with each guild dedicated to a patron deity.

Second, Thyatira was known for its gods. It had a number of shrines to local deities. In fact, beside all the trade guild deities, they had two deities they worshiped as sons of Zeus.

We don’t have a lot of archeological details on Thyatira. It’s now the modern town of Akhisar. But we know the church existed in this city full of trade guilds and idolatry.

And Jesus has a message for the church. In verse 18, he introduces himself: "To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.’" This is the only time in the book of Revelation that Jesus is called the Son of God. Jesus is asserting his divine sonship here. Jesus references descriptions from 1:14-15, which draw from Daniel's vision in Daniel 10:6. His eyes are like flames of fire; he has a searching gaze that no-one can escape. His feet are like burnished bronze; he has feet that will crush his enemies. Jesus shows up resplendent in his divine glory, and yet he shows up with authority and as judge. And he has something to say to that church and to us.

Commendations

Jesus has some commendations for the church in Thyatira. Look at verse 19: “I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” Jesus commends their works, and mentions four of them: their love, faith, service, and patient endurance.

This is a church which has some significant strengths. They’re loving. They have faith — they’ve maintained their trust in God despite going through difficult times. They help others. And they’ve patiently endured trials despite the hardships they’ve faced.

In contrast to the church in Ephesus, which had regressed over time, this church was moving forward. Their later works are better than the first. They’re not only doing good things, but they’re growing in doing good things. They were getting progressing instead of declining as time went on.

As we’re about to see, this church also has some serious problems. It's interesting that the two churches with the biggest issues, Ephesus and Thyatira, also get the most praise from Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is so gracious to his church. I love how Jim Hamilton puts it:

It is important to recognize that Jesus knows and acknowledges the good in each of these churches, even when he is going to address serious problems in the churches. Sometimes when we go to address problems, even ones that are not so serious, we fail to see and acknowledge the good things that may be happening. Jesus is encouraging this church. They have problems, but those problems don’t keep him from seeing and commending the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. Let’s cultivate an ability to see and commend the fruits of the Spirit in each other’s lives, even if we do have serious things we need to go on to address, as Jesus does here.

Concern

That’s what’s going well in the church. So what’s the problem?

But I have this against you, 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. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:20–21)

Let’s figure this out.

They tolerate a woman named Jezebel. Jesus uses the name of one of the greatest villains of the Old Testament and applies it to this woman. We read about the Old Testament Jezebel in 1 Kings 16 to 21. She was the wife of King Ahab, and she promoted Baal worship. She taught people that foreign gods would bring economic prosperity.

She was such a bad influence that 1 Kings 21:25 and 26 say:

There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.

There was someone in the church that was acting just like Jezebel. What was she doing? Verse 20 says she claimed to be a prophetess — she claimed to speak for God — and she was a teacher. She was seducing people in the church to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

What does all of this mean? Jesus writes to this church and warns them about someone from within the church who is leading them astray. The problem probably isn’t only literal sexual immorality but spiritual infidelity, spiritual adultery. She’s leading them to compromise their faith, probably by participating in certain rituals of their pagan culture.

It’s likely that this woman was teaching you could worship God in your private life, but then make compromises in their public lives.

Nancy Guthrie explains:

Thyatira was a market city and was “dominated by trade guilds that oversaw its various industries: wool, linen, dyes, clothing manufacturers, leather works, pottery, bakers, and bronze works.” Each guild paid homage to pagan gods. Christians who worked in these trades would have been pressured to participate in sacred festivals to these pagan gods, which would have included eating meals in their temples and participating in sexual liaisons with temple prostitutes.
Evidently there was an influence in the church, perhaps a woman in the church claiming to be a prophetess, who was encouraging the believers in the church to go ahead and participate in the feasts and the sexual ceremonies. Calling her “Jezebel” was a way of connecting the nature of her influence in the church to the Jezebel we read about in 1 Kings who urged the Israelites to worship Baal and Ashteroth alongside the Lord, which also involved sexual liaisons at the pagan shrines. Essentially, the message of this person to those in the church was that they could do everything their fellow citizens of Thyatira did.

You can please God and go along with the world, she seemed to be teaching. You can believe what the Bible says but keep your beliefs private and go along with whatever’s required for you to blend in.

And some people seemed to be buying this within the church. Jesus said that he had already given her time to repent, but she hadn’t repented, and she was still influencing people in the church.

There are many today who urge compromise between what Scripture teaches and what the world believes. It’s easy to argue that we bend a little to accommodate the world until we realize that “the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze” is watching. And he has something to say to the church that’s being influenced to waver like the church in Thyatira.

The Warning

Here’s the warning Jesus has:

Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works. (2:22-23)

Jesus doesn’t mess around with this kind of compromise. Jesus has eyes like flames of fire, and he searches our minds and hearts.

If they don’t repent, they’re going to suffer and die spiritually and possibly physically too. They can continue to compromise with the world’s values because it looks like the consequence-free option, but it’s not. In fact, the consequences are severe.

You may be wondering, “Does Jesus mean that they will literally die?” We don’t know for sure. In Acts 5, God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead. In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul said that some ate and drank the Lord’s Supper improperly and drank judgment on themselves. “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died,” he said (1 Corinthians 11:30). Certainly it seems that the consequences of disobedience can lead to death.

But to be honest, that is preferable to the other kind of death that could be in view. Spiritual death is even worse. Our spiritual lives are at stake. If we follow Jezebel, we’re in danger of spiritual death, which is far worse than physical death.

But notice Jesus’ grace. Jesus warns us. He even gave this false teacher a chance to repent. Jesus is full of mercy. Even in his most challenging message, his arms are extended to those who hear his message and receive his grace.

Some in that church thought they could compromise a little on their faith and avoid the negative consequences. Jesus tells them: you don’t avoid the consequences through compromise; instead, you sign up for more severe consequences from Jesus himself.

I think of the early church leader Tertullian, who rebuked a believer for participating in idolatry because of his business. The man defended his sin, saying, “After all, I must live.” Tertullian answered, “Must you?” That’s the message Jesus brings. We always have options. It’s far better to choose to obey Christ, even if it costs us our lives.

The Promise

But here’s the promise to those who resist the temptation to compromise.

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. Only hold fast what you have until I come. 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 rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (2:24-29)

No other burden. Only hold fast. Stay faithful to the end, even if it costs.

And then Jesus quotes from Psalm 2:9: “You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Jesus claims to be the one that Psalm 2 talks about, who rules over the world. But amazingly, he says that if we’re faithful to the end, we will rule with him too. Right now our bosses and tribunals rule over us, but there is a day that we will rule over them with Christ.

Even better, he will give us the morning star. Who is the morning star? Revelation 22:16 says that Jesus is the bright morning star. Stay faithful to the end, and you will get something better than the approval of others or even the privilege to rule the world with Christ. We’ll get Jesus himself.

When we see who Jesus is, what he did for us at the cross, how he welcomes sinners to come to him, how he cares for the church, how he conquers and rules, how he will one day come again and allow us to rule with him, how could we not stay faithful to him no matter what it costs?

We’re the bad guys now. Following Jesus may cause others to view you as bigoted and dangerous. It could cost you your job. But don’t give up. Don’t tolerate those who tell you to compromise, because the consequences of compromise are severe, and the rewards of obedience to Jesus are more than worth it.

As McAlpine writes in his book:

You can accept that, in this time and this place in history, we just might have to put up with being the bad guys. And that can drive you back into the community of God’s people and to all of the richness that dwells there, thanks to the unity gifted to it by the Holy Spirit … You can go forward together to engage with the world bravely and courageously and with love and concern: to continue to be all that Jesus has called us to be even when all the world sees is a black hat coming in its direction, and humbly but resolutely to hold out a different story and a better way and a happier ending.
We worship a God who delights in reversing roles: lifting up the humble and bringing down the proud, filling the empty and sending the full away empty-handed. We look to the God who will one day welcome us with love and joy. We wait for the day when he will say to those whom the world said were the bad guys, “Well done, good and faithful servants”.
That’s a good ending.