Let me call your attention this morning to the Word of God recorded in Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. We'll begin our reading at verse 18. I am reading from the New King James Version of the Bible this morning. So the wording in your Bibles perhaps is a little different, but I trust that you can follow along as I read from this version of the Bible. Revelation chapter two, beginning with verse 18. 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. I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. 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. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he who searches the minds and the hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your words. Now to you, I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden, but hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels, as also I also have received 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." May God be pleased to add a blessing to the reading of his holy word. As I stated, I am reading from the New King James version of the Bible, which is a good formal equivalent translation. I'm aware that there are a few different translations in our congregation here at Grace, and it's not my purpose to discuss which translation is the best. If you want to learn more about reliable translations, let me direct you to a series of five Sunday school lessons taught in this place by Pastor Greg back in 2019. The reason I mention this translation is because the Holman Bible publishers decided to add subject headings to help us follow the flow of thought in the biblical material. So if you look at my Bible, you'd see text divided by these headings. So if you're trying to find the location of the Lord's prayer and you knew it was somewhere in Matthew or somewhere in Luke, You could, by a quick glance, find that portion easily because of the italic type of the headings in my Bible. In my Bible, the publishers have added these subject headings over each of these churches that are listed in the Revelation. The descriptions given in these headings are not inspired. Just like the notes in your Bible, the study notes are not inspired. The text itself is inspired. But these things are helped to us as we seek to understand God's word. So you might find them helpful and you may not find them helpful. In Revelation chapter two and chapter three, these headings were given to describe something of the churches that were addressed. Chapter two, verse one, we read of this church in Ephesus and the heading says, to the loveless church. The reason being is because there is a statement here in this passage that describes this church who had lost or left their first love. In verse eight, the heading says, this is the persecuted church. And no doubt it is because those who are addressed in this letter are those who are attacked and persecuted. And some of them were thrown in prison and they would have tribulation according to that passage. So they were concerned that the persecuted church in chapter in verse 12, we see the compromising church. So we see these who had taken on and had those in their midst who taught the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. This morning we come to verse 18. And the heading identifies this church as the corrupt church. Many words might have come to your mind when we refer to a church as corrupt. Why is this church amongst the seven considered corrupt? Perhaps your mind thought of words or synonyms like these lacking integrity, crooked, debased in character, depraved, perverted, wicked, evil, infected, tainted, marred, putrid, spoiled. And I must admit that these are strange descriptions when referring to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of Webster's definitions describes corrupt as that which is made inferior by errors or alterations to lower morally or to pervert. And as we shall see, this description appropriately denotes what is taking place in the church in Thyatira. Let me remind you of how I've approached these letters to the churches in previous studies. The structure of each letter follows basically the same general pattern. It's been a while since we've looked at these passages in these churches together, so let me remind you of this pattern. First, there's a greeting. to the angel of the church. Secondly, there's a description of Christ, usually taken from the vision in chapter one. Thirdly, there's a commendation for faithfulness and good works, which is absent in the case of the Laodicean church. Fourthly, there's a condemnation of sin. except in the case of Smyrna and Philadelphia. Fifthly, a word of warning. Sixthly, a call to hear. And seventhly, a promise to the victors or the overcomers. Let me first give a little background concerning the city where this church is addressed. This church that is addressed here in Thyatira, And then secondly, something of how the Lord Jesus is described to this church. And after which I'd like to focus our attention on the remainder of the letter under three heads. One, the approval, as we see in verse 19. Secondly, an accusation, verses 20 through 23. And thirdly, an admonition, verses 24 through 29. Verse 18 and says, and to the angel or the messenger of the church in Thyatira, right? It is interesting that the longest and most difficult of the seven letters is addressed to the least known, least important, and least remarkable of the cities says Colin Hemer. This city was about 20 to 40 miles Southeast of Pergamos. Sir William Ramsey said, all the other six cities are visually remarkable. Thyatira alone lies on almost level ground in the center of a broad vale or valley by gently rising hills. Thyatira offered no obstacle to an enemy approaching. Thus it was considered a military buffer. for the more desirable capital of Pergamos. Thyatira was considered as a shield, a buffer, to weaken enemy forces or lessen their numbers as they would approach the capital city of Pergamos. So they were like, kind of like the bumpers on old cars. Their design, I know you have those plastic ones now, but when I was When I was growing up, we had those sturdy metal bumpers that actually protected the car. Thyatira was that kind of a city. It was a bumper city. It was to slow down the troops that were invading. No soldier wanted to be stationed in Thyatira. because they were considered sitting ducks. That's what we used to call them, sitting ducks. Growing up in Michigan, we had much opportunity to have snowball fights. Not only did we learn how to build snowmen, but we also learned how to build forts out of snow. And that was crucial if you got into a fight with the neighbors, a snowball fight with the neighbors, that you would have some protection, something to buffer the blows or the onslaught of those icy artillery bombs. Thyatira was that kind of a city. It was just there to protect the more desirable cities. in the wide open, no geographical terrain or mountains to protect them from the invasion of coming armies. Though the city was not a desirable location for a military post, it was a good position for trading and the city appears to have been quite a commercial center. Ramsey says more trade gills are known in fire Tyra than in any other Asian city. Such as wool workers linen workers makers of our garments dyers. leather workers tanners potters bakers slave dealers and bronze Smith. In Acts chapter 16, verse 14, we read of the first convert in Philippi, Lydia, who was from Thyatira. And she was a seller of purple. Purple was a very rare color, and it was used to dye the expensive, extravagant garments. The dye was taken from small shellfish. Their secretions would, if you gathered enough of them together, you could take these fish and use the secretion from these small shellfish to create this dye, this purple dye to dye the garments. These are the garments that were worn by royalty, or those people who had means. it is likely that because Lydia was some distance from the coast that she dyed her purple garments from the extract of the Mataroot. And so she took this plant and no doubt put it in this warm water with some other ingredients and the extract would create this dye to dye these garments, which were very costly. Each craft had its own trade guild. And membership involved participating in licentious pagan feasts. There was much eating and gluttonous indulgence. And illicit sex was known to be a part of these feasts by these, if you will, unions. Each union associated with the worship of a Tertullian deity. Each guild had its guardian god. And those gods were required, they were required to worship those gods and participate in these pagan gatherings. If one decided not to, because perhaps they were Christians, and they could not attend these with a good conscience before God, they were ridiculed and persecuted, and as a result, of not participating, they were ostracized and expelled from the guilds. So what does that mean? That means the loss of wages and a way to provide for your family. So it was very important to be a part of one of these unions or labor guilds. But the requirements to continue as a member in good standing was beyond what any good Christian could do. Brethren, we are pressed. This is not just an ancient thing. Many of us, well I shouldn't say us because I'm retired, but many of you perhaps have to endure certain regulations and certain things in the workplace that call you to do things that are unethical. You're asked to do certain things if you are considering a raise or promotion. And your profession is put to the test. Nobody knows. but God knows. And to keep a good conscience, you must find yourself in a line with the word of God and the precepts of God's word, no matter where you are. Always remember God is omniscient and he's a faithful God. Sometimes we're asked to do things like work on the Lord's day. And I understand there are some professions that is necessary. And there are works of mercy and works of piety. There are works of necessity that take place on this day. But some of us, because of greed or the temptation to greed, find ourselves signing up for that extra day. And we rationalize it. I could put more in the offering plate. We definitely need some more room. We need more restrooms. We need more parking. Perhaps if I made a little bit more money by working on the Lord's Day, I can help support the work of the ministry. And so we rationalize these things. But remember, brethren, God honors those who honor him. And we've heard testimonies of those who stood their ground on the principles of God's word. And it seems like they will come on the short end of the stick, as it were, and not receive what the company is offering, but find themselves being blessed far above and beyond what any employer can give, because the one who controls all things is the God in whom we serve. And we should never forget that. We can never forget that. You honor God and God will honor you. God will take care of his children. This is promise. A promise of the God who cannot lie. It is impossible for him to lie. So brethren, if we find ourselves in these situations, we need to look to heaven and plead with God for his mercy that we might endure and persevere in these times, even though we are persecuted, ridiculed, talked about. You do know that's our lot in this life, don't you? We've not been called to a life of ease. But the Bible says, blessed are ye when men shall persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Great is your reward in heaven. These secret societies, these labor unions, were plenteous. But in the midst of this darkness, God planted a church. We look at some places and we look at some people and we doubt sometimes if God can save them because of the hardness of their heart and because of the darkness and the wickedness in which they are involved. And sometimes we give up. Brethren, we should persevere in prayer because nothing is too hard for God. Some of us can say, if God saved me, he can save anyone. And so, brethren, we must always remember that God's hands are not bound, and even in the midst of darkness and in a pagan society, God is able to plant a church of saved, sanctified people who desire to follow him. Look with me again at verse 18, as we consider, secondly, the description of Christ to this church. These things says the son of God. This is the only letter to use the title, the son of God. Indeed, it's the one place in the revelation where this title occurs. This designation emphasizes the majesty of his person. Christ Jesus is the God man. It highlights his deity. He was most comforting and encouraging to the believers who were pressed to acknowledge and recognize the false gods of their day. Listen to Mounce as he comments on this, speaking of Christ being referred to as the Son of God. It stands in strong contrast to the local cultic worship of Apollo, which was merged with that of the emperor, identified as Apollo incarnate. So they both were acclaimed as the sons of Zeus. Thus it is not the emperor or the guardian deity of Thyatira, but the resurrected Christ who is a true son of God. They were called on to believe in these false gods and to bring incense and worship and say that the Caesar is Lord. And God's son says to this church, he is the son of God, the only true deity. Bill says that this, as he applies this significant title to Christ, he says this, The readers must give their exclusive adoration to Jesus and trust him for their economic welfare since he alone is the true God. He alone is the true God. Then in verse 18, it says, who has eyes like a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. Leon Morris writes, his eyes and feet are as described in chapter one, verse 14 and 15. The eyes indicate that he sees all and the feet that he will certainly and swiftly pursue all that is evil, possibly also that he will tread it down. Here we have judgment with penetrating insight in verse 23. In this verse, this chapter tells us he searches the minds and the hearts. This God whom you serve, believers in Thyatira, has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like brass. Acknowledge, we must acknowledge and believe these truths concerning our God. He sees all things. And he is the judge of all. David acknowledges this in his prayer of repentance, that this is the one holy and omniscient God. David understood that. He said, behold, you desire truth in the inward parts. And in the hidden parts, you will make me no wisdom. And David cries, created me a clean heart, oh God. and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Sometimes we make excuses for our sin. Sometimes we are ashamed and we don't want to face the guilt and deal with our sins right. And the accuser of the saints comes and he hurls his accusations against us. And sometimes those accusations are partly in truth because we've violated the law of God. What should we do when we are guilt ridden and we recognize that our sins are forgiven? We need to remember, like David, God desires truth in the inward parts. He knows everything about, we make excuses and we call them the reasons or the why of what we did. And perhaps that will go over in the ears of loved ones. Perhaps that will go over in the ears of your boss. But Christ has eyes like a flame of fire. They're penetrating and he understands that he knows your thoughts are far off. He's acquainted with all your ways. Before the words exit your mouth, he knows them all together. He knows our hearts. And so we must deal honestly with God, knowing that he knows all things, nothing can be hidden from him. And so we acknowledge that we have sinned when we sin and we come again afresh, like we did at the first to that fountain, which is open for sin and uncleanness. What a blessed privilege the people of God have. that we can come every single day and bring our sins to our gracious Savior, who has promised that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we needn't walk around with bloodied consciences and trying to patch up and hide our sin. This Jesus has eyes like a flame of fire, He sees all and his feet like fine brass, which speaks of his power and his strength to trample his enemies. And he will. David knows how to pray. He said, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. In verse 19, we read our Lord's commendation, or as I have outlined it as his words of approval. When we started this series, I took that soliloquy of Shakespeare's Hamlet, those famous words which are repeated, have been repeated throughout the centuries, to be or not to be. I understand what Hamlet was saying, but I hijacked it to encourage us to be all that God commands us to be and not to be all that he condemns. It should be our desire. It should be our pursuit. I know your works. love, service, faith, and your patience. And as for your works, the last are more than the first. This should be our zealous desire to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So much so it becomes our everyday prayer. Do you pray that every day? Lord, grow me up in my Savior. Help me, Lord, to grow in the knowledge of my Savior. Help me to follow his ways that I might be more like him because I know, Lord, that you've predestinated me before the foundations of the world that I would be holy and conform to his image. Make me holy, Lord, today. We have prayers that we pray every day. We grew up learning prayers that we prayed every single day. Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord. my soul to take, and children expanded on that prayer because they wanted God to hear the specific needs of their hearts. And they said, God bless mommy, God bless daddy, God bless brother, God bless sister, God bless spot, God bless fluffy, and God bless Oscar my goldfish. Every single day, the same prayer. Brethren, this should be our practice. Every day, the same prayer, Lord, make me holy. Wasn't this the practice of the apostle Paul? He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you with joy. Every single day, I'm thanking God for the saints. Every remembrance of you, I'm thanking God and praising him. And in this I pray, Paul says, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God, Philippians chapter one. We pray, Lord, do this for us. cause us to abound more and more in our love for you. And the fruit of our lives that we pray that God make me more fruitful. Don't let me sit back and just rest upon what I did five years ago. I actually told someone about Christ, let me see. And we take comfort in that because we've done it a long time ago. Or are we every day proclaiming the glories of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light? Are we seeking those opportunities to tell others about Christ? We don't have to go far. You just step out of your door. You can run into a sinner who doesn't know Christ. Befriend people. Befriend your neighbors, your co-workers. Build that type of relationship, not as a buddy-buddy kind of confidant, but develop enough relationship with people that they know you care about them, and tell them the good news. They're listening to lies. They're listening to things that will take their souls to hell, and you have the good news. Brethren, be about growing in grace, and be about these, and Thyatira were exemplary in their works. This is not the assessment of fellow believers. This is the assessment of the all-seeing Christ, the one who knows their motives, the one who knows their thoughts, We can do good deeds sometime and have ulterior motives, and people think highly of us, and it's all about us and selfishness. But Christ sees the heart. And he looks at these people here in Thyatira, and he is commending them for their love and their service and their faith and their patience. And you know what? Not only are they abounding more and more in their fruit, in the fruit of righteousness, but they're doing better than they did at the first. Now, usually we think back on the days when we were first converted and we say, oh, how zealous we were. Oh, how on fire we were. Oh, we've gained more knowledge now. We're more under, you know, we have more intellect about spiritual and theological things. But sometimes, and we long for those days, but this people, They were not only zealous in their service for Christ, but Christ says, you look better now than you did at the first. You're growing. A brother sent me a portion from John Owens volume one. And since Owen wrote this portion this treatise in his latter years, and is exhorting us older Christians to continue to be fruitful and fat in old age, prosperous and growing in grace in old age, with all the aches and pains and the attack of disease and all the things that we encounter that will slow us down and cause us to be less active in the things of Christ. And he encourages the saints, even in old age, to be prosperous in their pursuit of holiness and fruitful and useful in the kingdom of God. I hope we don't gain that mentality, that Americanized mentality, that when we get a certain age we can stop working and just kick back and do nothing. God has called us to work. And these people in Thyatira were that kind of people. They worked hard and Christ commends them for their diligence. What about us, brethren? It's interesting here. Let me say this. It's interesting how Christ approaches this church. He comes to these churches, there's an exception here, but he begins with a good word. He begins, and the Bible calls us to follow Christ's example. Christ says that we ought to follow in his steps, and he leaves us an example in many areas and many things in life. He tells us how to interact with one another here. You notice that Christ always begins with a commendation, a good word. He always comes with a kind word. There's some sobering things he has to say to this church, but he always starts with the good. Unlike some of us parents, when we see things going awry at home and children are not obeying or something goes on and we harp on the negative and the bad things first. That's not how Christ deals. That's not how the apostles spoke to those whom he had to speak certain things about. He thanks God for them. He says, I pray for you. And then he moves on to the difficult things. Joe Beakey calls that the Pauline sandwich. He's got commendation, good words, kind words. That's the first bread. And then in the middle, he comes along with the criticism, the meat, that's the difficult things he must say. But then, as we see in these letters, there's a commendation, and then there's also promises made, comforting words are made. Is that how we approach one another? When we have to say difficult things, do we follow the example of our Lord? Do we come with the good things first? Ease into your interactions and your relationships with kind words. And then the difficult things will follow, but you follow them along with comforting things and encouragements. And that's what our Lord has done here. And we should follow his example. You are to grow and abound. I say this is the assessment of Christ and it is not flattery at all. It is an honest and searching assessment of who these people are. Don't start, brethren, with the negative things. Let me say one other thing. And then next week, I think we're going to, we're going to come back Lord willing, and we're going to look at the hard things, the hard word, the accusation that comes to this church, because Christ has to say something very sobering to this church. even though they were doing well it seems like a paradox to us that they're doing so well and they're growing in love unlike the church in in Ephesus they were very orthodox and they were very they tried those who say they were apostles and were not and found them liars they were very firm in their orthodoxy but they lost their first love this church is abounding in love, but their attention to orthodoxy and right doctrine is fading, so much so that they allowed this woman, Jezebel, to teach more about her later. But the first thing should hit our minds, first of all, she's teaching in the church, and we'll cover that next week. She calls herself a prophetess. But before you even hear the title that she refers to herself as, it's like she's teaching. And what's wrong with that? She got a skirt on. That's what's wrong. The instructions and the qualifications for elders clearly state that those who hold office and teach in God's church must be duly qualified men. Males are to teach in the congregation. Does that mean that a woman can't teach? Oh, there are opportunities in places where she can. Does it mean the man is smarter than the woman? It does not mean that. There are women who know more Greek and Hebrew who can run circles around some of us. There are women who are excellent orators. But this is not about who's the best. It's about God's order and how he has ordained things to be in his church. And for some reason, these folks who abounded in all these good fruit allowed this woman to teach. The apostle says, let a woman learn in silence with all submission. and do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression." This is rooted, brethren. The apostle goes all the way back and he, and he, he, he supports this from the opening pages of scripture and God's order, how God ordained things to be. We'll come back to that next week and open up what all this has to say about this Jezebel who taught in this church and what Christ had to say about it. Let me stop here and just give this one word of exhortation, which falls on the heels of an exhortation that we've been receiving for the past few weeks. Brethren, be zealous for the things of God. Desire to grow more and more. And major on the main things. There are a lot of trivial things in life that will pull you away and your attention away from the things that matter most. And Satan is subtle in the way he draws us away from the things that we ought to be giving our attention to. And we must be on guard and not ignorant of his devices. Be zealous for the good things. So much so that others will see your growth when we're zealous for the truth, when we're zealous for the kingdom of God and the church of Christ as those living stones seeking to bring forth those things which are acceptable in the sight of God through Christ. let us desire, not to be showy, that's not our design, but we do want people to know about Christ. And we do want people to see Christ in our lives. And when we live godly lives, and when we pursue the things that matter most, people will see. Do you remember the testimony of the apostle as he spoke to the believers in Thessalonica? We give thanks to God always for you, always, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work, your faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. Knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God, For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake." The apostle goes on and he says, you became examples to all in Macedonia and in Achaia. who believe from from you the word of the Lord was sounded forth not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything for they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers from the wrath to come. They live such godly lives that their testimony went abroad, and people knew of the effect of the gospel on their lives. The apostle didn't have to tell folks about the good Christians, he said, Your reputation has preceded you. Folks are talking about how much you love Christ. And Paul says, for this reason, we also thank God without ceasing. Because when you receive the word of God, you heard it from us. You welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. They didn't go away and say, ah, that's just Pastor Greg, or that's just Pastor Sean, or that's just Pastor Devon, or that's just what they think. No, they said, that word is coming from heaven. And they believed it, they loved it, and they lived it. And you know what that did? The apostle says, for what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? You want to make your pastors happy? Grow in grace. Love Christ. Abound in your walk with God. that's what do we're not asking for raises, we're not asking for, we just want you to follow Christ. So in that day when he returns, we may rejoice with joy, it's unspeakable, because the likes of all of us who have sat under the preaching of the word are gathered there before the throne, hearing our Lord say, welcome. That's what will increase our joy. He says, for what is our joy or our crown of rejoicing is you, brethren, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. For you are our glory and joy. to see you walking in Christ every day and fighting sin, mortifying the deeds of the flesh by the spirit, to see you loving one another and abounding and using your gifts in the body of Christ here and building up the body and building up one another and encouraging one another, exhorting one another day by day, stirring one another up to love and good works, that blesses our hearts. That's why we're here. But we're not professional orators. We are shepherds who long to see the sheep stay within the fold, not wander off, and find their way one day hearing our Savior say, well done, good and faithful servant. That's what we want to hear for ourselves and for you. And so, brother, abound. in these things, that your latter deeds and works may be seen to be greater than the first." Let's pray. Our Father, we confess to our shame that we are prone to wonder, and we feel it. We are prone to leave you, the God we love. And so we pray that you would take our hearts and seal them for the courts above. Help us, Father, to glorify you. Help us to have this initial testimony that was given by the all-seeing Christ to this church in Thyatira. that their latter deeds and works were greater than the first. And they abounded in love and service and faith and patience. May that be us. And so we pray, Father, that you would help us because we don't have the strength within ourselves to do these things. And so we ask, Father, that you would help us, that you would continue the work that you've begun in us. Help us. to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We know because of the testimony of your word that you are working in us both to will and to do of your good pleasure. And we praise you and we thank you. And without you, we can do nothing. And so we plead with you, Father, that you would be with us throughout the remainder of this day, that we would meditate upon the truths of your word. Help us, Lord, as we come to the next hour. and sit up under the preaching of your word. Help us, Lord, to sing your praises. Help us to give great attention to the reading of your word. Help us to join in in the prayers that are prayed in this place. And, oh, Father, we pray that you would do this and make us more like our Savior. And we shall be so very careful to give your name all the praise and all the glory. For we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.