The Revelation of Christ – Part 6:
Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church - HOFC
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most difficult book in
the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it, or ignore it all together. Some fear lack of
understanding, others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartner learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgement, even some
who claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than
Jesus Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
ARE – The Church Age (Age of Grace)
Part 3 – Ephesus The
Backsliding Church
Part 4 – Smyrna The
Steadfast Church
Part 5 – Pergamos The Immoral Church
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Part 7 – Sardis The Dead Church
Part 8 – Philadelphia The Favored Church
Part 9 – Laodicea The Church God Hates
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Living Creatures (Various Angels)
Part 12 – Heavenly Worship (As it is in Heaven)
Part 13 – The Sealed Book (Various Books)
Part 14 – The Lion and the Lamb
Part 15 – The First 6 Seals
Part 16 – The 144,000 Jews
Part 17 – The Tribulation Saints
Part 18 – The Seventh Seal
Part 19 – The First 4 Trumpets
Part 20 – The 5th Trumpet
Part 21 – The 6th Trumpet
Part 22 – The Mighty Angel
Part 23 – The Two Witnesses
Part 24 – The Seventh Trumpet
Part 25 – The Woman and the Dragon
Part 26 – Manchild
Part 27 – Michael
Part 28 – Overcomers
Part 29 – Persecution
Part 30 – Antichrist
Part 31 – The Lamb
More sermons in the series listed in Part 1
TODAY’S SERMON
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Revelation
1:3
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and
blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in
it, because the time is near.”
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation
2:18-29
“To the angel
of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are
like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I
know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that
you are now doing more than you did at first.
20 Nevertheless, I
have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and
the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her
time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I
will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery
with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I
will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who
searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your
deeds.
24 Now I say to
the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have
not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden
on you, 25 except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
26 To the one who
is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the
nations— 27 that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and
will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from
my Father. 28 I will also give that one the morning star. 29 Whoever
has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The
church in Thyatira was the first Catholic church, often called the “papal
church”. It signifies the beginning of
Catholicism which officially began as such about 500 A.D and continues today.
I.
INTRODUCTION
a.
These are the words of the Son of God
i. Whose eyes are like blazing
fire
1. Fire representing judgment
from what He sees
ii. Whose feet are like
burnished bronze
1. This combination of a Greek
and Hebrew word causes confusion among scholars.
a. Ministering priests were
often barefoot, so they would appear as brass from years of sunlight.
b. Gold is symbolic of God’s
kingship, glory and holiness, and silver represents redemption
c. The holy place of God’s
presence is lined and coated and covered with gold. The poles were made of
wood, but were covered in gold, and rested in silver stands. Is this like us
(wood, like straw & stubble) coated in gold (God’s own holiness, a
“covering”) because we stand in the redemption (silver base) of Jesus sacrifice?
d. Bronze represents God’s
judgement dealing with sin – only then can a person enter the pure and holy presence of
God.
2. Feet can represent
the “last members” of the church, end time church.
a. So, feet like burnished
bronze could represent the coming judgment on an end time church,
Thyatira.
b.
I know your deeds
i. Watching as the Lord stands
among the lamp-stands
ii. He knows all of our deeds
and stands among us
c.
Your Deeds,
i. Your love and faith
ii. Your service and
perseverance
iii. And that you are now “doing”
more than you did at first
1. Deeds are mentioned twice,
the second time meaning they were falling more on “works”, their “deeds” for
salvation now.
2. “You are doing more now than
you did at first”
3. They were turning from
Christ and the Work of the Cross and depending on themselves for salvation
through works and deeds.
II.
I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT, SAYS CHRIST
a.
I have this against you
i. The eyes of blazing fire see
their sin, (turning away from the cross and following idols and false
teachings)
ii. And the feet of burnished
bronze, the Lord is coming in judgment against them.
b.
You tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself a
prophet
i. By her teaching she misleads
my servants into sexual immorality
1. Later verses show this is
figurative speech for Spiritual Adultery
ii. And the eating of food
sacrificed to idols
1. The Lord speaking again
symbolically against Idol Worship, not the eating of food offered to idols
which we know Paul states is not a sin.
2. Eating food offered for
idols as a Satanic mockery of the Lord’s communion.
3. i.e. a church that
performing a ritual that appears as communion, however is turned into something
else by false teachings, such as the elements magically transforming into
something they are obviously not, or as the early Pagans practiced eating bread
that was dough which was “magically” transformed into bread when placed on a
rock in the sun, as part of their SUN worship.
4. A lot of Catholic churches
use communion with a sunburst on them, and a chalice with a lid featuring a sun
upon its top as well.
iii. I have given her time to
repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling
1. The Lord gives ALL time to
repent
2. The Lord KNOWS when there
will no longer be the opportunity to change, and judges accordingly as He
Wills.
a. He gave Pharaoh time
b. He gave Nineveh time
c. He gave Sodom & Gomorrah
time
d. He gave Judas time
3. Some repent, some do not,
only God knows when they reach the point of NO RETURN, He then deals with them
accordingly
iv. So I will cast her on a bed
of suffering
1. And I will make those who
commit adultery with her suffer intensely
a. Spiritual adultery
b. Those who commit with her
are those who believe her false teachings
2. Unless they repent
a. A time given to those who
were misled by false teachings
3. I will strike her children
dead
a. Children are those who
continue to follow her, and they will die (spiritually) as punishment for
spiritual adultery
c.
Then all the churches will know that I am He who
searches hearts and minds
i. And I will repay each of you
according to your deeds
1. Deeds in this case;
a. Follow the teachings of
Christ trusting in Him alone
b. Or, believe false teachings
thinking works can save you
III.
NOW I SAY TO THE REST OF YOU IN THYATIRA
a.
You who do not hold to her teaching and have not
learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets
i. Satan’s “so-called deep
secrets”
ii. What are they? We are told
in the beginning of this letter, “"I have this against you: You
tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching
she misleads my servants,”
1. They allowed Jezebel to
teach as a prophet
2. The problem wasn’t she was a
woman, nor a prophet, but because she “misled with her false teaching.”
iii. Because false teachings do not
align with God’s Word and oppose those who read and know the Word of God, it
must be presented as “secret knowledge” that only special people understand.
1. The Catholic church did this
for centuries by only giving services in Latin
2. By outlawing translations of
texts
3. By wanting to kill Martin
Luther for translating the Bible into German
4. If only the priests
understand God’s Word, they can use it in any way they wish to control the
people.
a. Why control people?
b. Power, money
5. How did the Catholic church
mislead God’s people with Satan’s so-called deep secrets?
a. Only baptism of infants can
save their soul
b. Only weekly communion can
save your soul
c. Only confessions and special
prayers to Mary can forgive sins and save your soul
d. Only prayers for the dead in
a Catholic church can save their soul
e. Only buying and lighting
candles in a Catholic church can save their soul
f. Only prayers can get a dead
loved one out of purgatory
g. Only a certificate from the
local priest makes your wedding real
h. Only a certificate from a priest
can nullify your union
i. You must pray to Mary or the
saints (idol worship)
j. You must pray these special
prayers we made up
k. It goes on, and on
6. All to control the people,
none of which is biblical, but those who do not read their bible and believe
the Priests have some secret knowledge trust in their Satanic teachings and
idol worship.
b.
You who do not hold to her teaching and have not
learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, I will not impose any other burden on
you
i. Except to hold on to what
you have until I come
1. They have a big enough
burden resisting the false teachings that were being allowed in their church.
2. They didn’t have a church on
every corner back in the day, so if you wanted to worship God and be among His
people, you congregated at one place.
3. Today, if false teachings
took place within a church, you could easily enough pick up and find a bible
church teaching the truth.
c.
Warnings to the church
i. These warnings are not just
for the papal church or Catholics, any church can fall prey to a Jezebel, who
may come in and try to teach falsehoods.
ii. The warning is for us all.
CONCLUSION
– Whoever has ears, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches
What
are the rewards the Lord promises to the Victorious?
Ephesus
- To the one who is VICTORIOUS I (Jesus) will give the right to eat from the tree
of life, which is in the
Paradise of God.
Smyrna - The one who is VICTORIOUS will
not be hurt at all by the second death.
Pergamos
- The one who is VICTORIOUS I will give some of the hidden manna. I
will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to the one who receives it.
Thyatira
– To the one who is VICTORIOUS (Repents of Jezebels false teachings, or never
fell for them to begin with) I will give authority over the nations
(Kingdom Age Rule) that one “will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash
them to pieces like pottery” (Psalm 2:9) Just as I have received authority from my
Father. I will also give that one the morning star.
Whosoever has ears, let them hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.
We will have authority over nations
during the Kingdom Age if we resist the false teachings.
What is the Kingdom Age?
1.
After the Pentecost (Acts
2) the Church Age started (where we are now) 1
Thessalonians 4:13-18
2.
The Rapture (1
Thessalonians 4:17) is next where we will stand before the Judgment
Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10)
3.
While in heaven for the 7-year
feast with the Lord (Ezekiel 36,24; 1.
Corinthians 15,51-52; 1 Thessalonians 4,16-17),
Tribulation (Revelation 3-19) will take place on earth
4.
Then the Second Coming of Christ
(Matthew 24:36, 40, 42) will take place
5.
Satan will be BOUND (Revelation
20:1-3) and the Kingdom Age (Revelation 20:4-6) will
last for thousands of years with no influence from Satan
a.
It is during this time that we will
rule WITH Christ Jesus on earth
b.
Life on earth will continue as before,
with people being born, living their lives, etc.
6.
After the Kingdom Age, Satan
will be loosed (Revelation 20:7) for a short period
7.
Then the Great White Throne
Judgment will take place! (Revelation 20:11-15)
a.
THE SECOND DEATH (SPIRITUAL DEATH)
b.
11 Then I saw a great
white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven
fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small
and great, standing before [c]God, and books were opened. And another book was
opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their
works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the
dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in
them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and
Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone
not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
8.
ETERNITY WITH THE LORD
a.
ALL THINGS MADE NEW! (Revelation 21)
i. New
heaven
ii. New
Earth
iii. New
Jerusalem
iv. The
River of life
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