typical pattern that we've seen and that we do see in most of these letters. The Lord Jesus Christ reveals himself and reveals a particular attribute of himself. He commends the church. He will do that here. He also rebukes the church, as he tells them he has something against them. And then he concludes with both a threat and a promise. There is a threat to those who refuse to repent. There's a promise to those who hold fast and remain faithful to him. Again, this is the same pattern that we've been seeing, and as we walk through this text and seek to unpack it this evening, we'll We'll try just to merely outline it as we go, so we'll do it in four ways. We'll see in verse 18 who Christ is. Again, that's Him revealing this attribute of Himself. We'll see in verse 19 what He knows, and this is where He commends the church. We'll see in verses 20 and 21 what he has against them. So next comes the rebuke for the church. And then we'll see in verses 22 through 29 what he will do. This is the threat and the promise here. So who Christ is, what he knows, what he has against them, and what he will do. So let's look first at who Christ is. Verse 18, and 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 here he is, introducing himself as the Son of God. We know that as a divine title, of course. He is the Son of God. We also refer to him as God the Son. There never was a time when the Son was not, we often say, to speak of his divinity. But as the Son of God, not only as God the Son, but as the Son of God, we also would say it in this way. There never was a time when He was not the only begotten Son of the Father. And so he is the eternal Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father. We know this Son of God as a divine title. It is one that John, the author of this book, also wrote in his gospel, a favorite title of his, to refer to Jesus as the Son of God, showing his deity. But not only is it a divine title, it is in scripture also a messianic title, to refer to the Son of God. In Psalm chapter two, David, says that the kings of the earth should kiss the sun. The sun there is the one that God has set on his holy hill. The king the one who has been set in the heavenly Mount Zion. He's the one into whose hand God has committed all judgment. We'll see this theme of judgment, really, that relates to language from Psalm 2 later on in this chapter toward the end of these verses that we've read tonight. And we see he is the one, the son of God, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, his feet like burnished bronze. This imagery speaks of kingship, feet with burnished bronze. It speaks of one who is of a kingdom, a king of a kingdom, but he's also one who is a judge. Eyes like a flame of fire. Now, just like we've seen in the past, this vision of Christ, or this description of Christ, self-description of Christ, is brought to us from chapter one. This is imagery that we find of Christ in the vision that John received of the exalted Lord Jesus in chapter one. And as it was with the last letter, the church in Pergamum, So it is in this letter to the Church of Thyatira, the imagery that's being presented here of eyes like a flame of fire and feet with burnished bronze, is to present Christ as the judge, the great sovereign judge. He is both king and judge. He sees all, eyes with a flame of fire. Nothing is hidden from his gaze. A flame of fire, it speaks to how his sight illuminates and penetrates the darkness. Nothing can be hidden from him. And you see really what this imagery is meant to connect. If you look back in verse 23, it is Christ who is the one all the churches will know as the one who searches mind and heart. This is the one with the eyes of the flame of fire. Nothing escapes his sight. Everything is open to the holy gaze of Christ, who is king and who is judge. And to speak of his kingdom. feet with burnished bronze. If you remember in Daniel chapter 2, and many point back to Daniel and some of the visions there and some of the imagery of fire and such as we saw the church in Smyrna even with their tribulation and all that they were facing. If you think of that chapter in Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream, that had the head and the shoulder of different precious metals. The feet were made partly of iron and partly of clay. And that idea of feet of clay, we use that to speak of men, to speak of their being finite, their limitations, that they are weak, that these things are eventually going to come crumbling down. But this is not a statue with feet of clay. His feet are feet of bronze, burnished bronze. It's a metal with impurities removed and it's polished. It is to say that his is a kingdom that will not fall. It will not stand. It is more than feet of clay. So he is the sovereign Lord, the king. But he's also the Lord who is the judge of heaven and earth. His eyes penetrate. This is the son of God. So that's who Christ is. The second thing we'll note here is what he knows. We find that in verse 19. I know your works, your love. and faith, and service, and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. Again, this is a recurring theme. You notice that so far, if you go back to the letter to the church in Ephesus, verse two of chapter two, I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance. If you go to the church in Smyrna, verse number nine, I know your tribulation, your poverty, If you go to the church in Pergamum, verse number 13, I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And now we come to verse 19 to the church in Thyatira. I know your works. Every church that the Lord speaks to, He communicates what He knows. He knows all about them. He's well acquainted with their circumstances. with their works, with their devotion. I know your works. He knows their circumstances. I know where you dwell, where Satan's seat is. I know that your persecution and your tribulation. He knows her challenges. He knows her sins. But here, as he says what he knows, he is telling them what they are to be commended for. I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. The church in Thyatira is commended for these things. None of this is lost upon the Lord. He sees all, remember, the eyes like a flame of fire, and part of what He sees are the good works that His church is to be commended for. Now this sounds a lot like the commendation that is given to the church in Ephesus. There is familiar language where he told them back in verse 2, I know your works, your toil, your patient endurance. And here it is again, I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance. Even though these sound similar, actually the church in Thyatira, though less familiar to us than the church in Ephesus, the church in Thyatira has more to commend it than the church in Ephesus did. If you remember, what was the thing that the church in Ephesus was rebuked for? They had all these works and patient endurance and such, but what was it? I have this against you. You left your first love. Well, here the Lord commends Thyatira for her love. I know your works, your love, your faith and service and patience and endurance. If you remember the church in Ephesus, she was called to repentance, and the Lord said, you need to repent and do the works that you did at the first. But what does the Lord say to the church in Thyatira? Your latter works exceed the first. They hadn't experienced decline like Ephesus had. They had continued, they had this testimony that they continued and they persevered and they increased even. that they were growing, there was a discernible growth in their works that were greater, the latter works greater than even that they did at the first. And so she has this testimony, Thyatira does. She's walked in, she's increased in the good works that the Lord has prepared for her. So that is who Christ is, that is what he knows, as he writes to the church in Thyatira. Then there is also, in verses 20 and 21, what he has against them. Now here comes the rebuke. We've seen Christ presented the attribute, we've seen his commendation, now we see the rebuke in verses 20 and 21. But I have this against you. 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." He goes on to say, I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of these things. And then the judgment is to come, beginning in verse 22. So this is what he has against them. There is within the church some form of false teaching. Goes by the name Jezebel. She is called here, or she calls herself rather, a prophetess. and her teaching and seduction is leading the servants of the Lord in the church to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Now, we're all familiar with the name Jezebel. She was that Sidonian princess who married the Israelite king Ahab, and through this marriage alliance, Jezebel comes to reign in Israel, and she brings with her Baal worship. from the Sidonians, and she was a great enemy to the true prophets of the Lord, especially Elijah. Now, I think this is a lot like what we saw last week. It's not that Jezebel herself has been reincarnated and she's back from the dead, but much like the Balaam error that we saw last week, what this really is, is this is to say this is an old problem that is wearing new clothes. But at root, it is the same thing. The Jezebel of old who had deceived, had seduced God's people into false worship. This is what is happening now in Thyatira. There is someone, there is a false teaching that is compromising the people of God so that they are participating in sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. It's hard to say whether Jezebel is to be taken as a literal woman. Was she? Perhaps she was a literal prophetess who was seducing men in the church and teaching falsely. Some seem to indicate that they don't believe that is very likely, but rather that this is a figurative way of speaking of this seductive false teaching that has entered the church Regardless, what we do know is what they are participating in is essentially the same thing that we found last time in the church in Pergamum. So if you look at verse 14, you find at the end of verse 14 that the error of Balaam that has come now to be sort of reproduced in the church in Pergamum. It is just as Balaam taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so this is what is happening in Pergamum. They are eating food sacrificed to idols and practicing sexual immorality. Now you come down to where we are in Thyatira, in verse number 20 at the end, it's the same thing. She's seducing My servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. You have the same pattern of compromise, the same pattern of syncretism, the same pattern of something that even that we saw back with the Nicolaitans, both in Pergamum and in Ephesus. There seemed to be this idea that there could be a cultural accommodation where it was permissible to engage in feasts and sacrifices to idols. There was idol worship here. Well, this is what is taking place. Now, the church in Thyatira, or the city of Thyatira rather, wasn't quite as given over to idol worship as the church in Pergamum. at least not to the degree of the city of Pergamum. The city of Pergamum was called, remember what, the place where Satan's throne was. On that hill in Pergamum, there were all sorts of temples that were dedicated to various deities. Although Thyatira is participating in idolatry, it's a bit different. Thyatira was more of a commercial city than a religious city. The economy was thriving, and most of the business in the city surrounded several trades. And so there were all sorts of trades, all sorts of tradesmen, and with each of these trades, there were guilds associated with them. And so here's how it goes. In order to be a tradesman, you would be part of the trade guild, and there would be many benefits to being a part of this. But each trade had its own patron deity, a pagan idol. And so in order to participate in the function and the life of the city economically and in the life of the trade and with the other tradesmen, you would be expected to participate in the idolatry that was associated with the patron saint of each of those trades. And so the idea, what most scholars believe, is that someone was teaching, that this false teaching was saying that this was permissible. Again, you could be devoted to Christ, but you could also participate in this pagan worship. You can see parallels of this sort of thing in modern times. Freemasonry and college fraternities, their rituals, really, they have these roots in these pagan practices and festivities. But once again, as it was in Pergamum, as it has been in Ephesus, we find a church that though she is to be commended for many things, yet she is receiving a rebuke because of her compromise by her participation in the idols that were so prominent in the culture. So we've seen who Christ is, we've seen what he knows, we've seen what he has against them, and now in the remaining verses we see what he will do. Beginning at verse 22, he speaks of the judgment that is coming, and then he will speak a kind word of encouragement and reward to those who remain faithful. I'm the type of person who likes to see what's around the next bend. I always, with my eyes sort of forward, and just in God's providence, I'm married to a woman who most of the time couldn't care less what's around the next bin, because that's not very practical. She is very good with the day-to-day, and yet I'm thinking big picture and future. But it's not just with those sorts of things, it's literally. If I'm in a boat going down the river, If I'm in the woods, if I'm on a back road, I want to know what it looks like around that next corner. And when we lived in the mountains of North Carolina, there were a couple of different times where that sort of thing paid off. I was able to go around and continue on and find some really neat sites, waterfalls and such. Around here I've sort of learned that despite my desire to see what lies beyond the next corner in that next swamp and oak hammock or pines, that really most of the time everything looks the same around the next bend as it does right in front of me. Well, the Lord Jesus really is telling the church in Thyatira here what is around the bend. In other words, he's going to tell them in these verses, this is where this path will lead you to. There is a path that leads to judgment, and there is a path that leads to blessing. And so we see the first beginning at verse 22. Behold, we should look back at verse 21. I gave her time to repent. We'll come back to that at the end, but she refuses. And so he says, behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed, 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. He had given her time in the Lord's patience, given them time to repent of this error, and they had refused, and so now judgment is coming. This is where this path is heading. This is what it looks like around the next bend. And it's quite simple. This is what you can expect from, if you continue on the path of idol worship and sexual immorality. It is sickness. It is great tribulation. It is death. death was the sentence that was pronounced upon all of Ahab, who was married to Jezebel, all of the sons of Ahab. And so, likewise, we have here the children of those who were pursuing this, as it was, Baal worship back in the days of the kings of Israel, and here pursuing this revived era of Jezebel. This is a result of those who will follow. Sort of reminds us, as we think of it in the context of worship, doesn't it, of the second commandment? Or the Lord says that he will visit the generation of the children of the fathers to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me when it comes to false worship. And yet there, just like we have here, there is the promise that the Lord promises blessing to those who love him and keep his commandments. Sickness, great tribulation, even death. Someone has put it this way, the bed of her pleasure will become the bed of her pain. And that's where this road leads. And if we think of this just in general terms, sexual immorality, idolatry, there are, these roads lead to, they have their own natural consequences to them. Scripture tells us that. Scripture tells us that those who make fashion false gods become like the gods that they worship. But nature tells us as well that if you pursue sexual pleasure outside of the marriage bed, then what you can expect, the consequences are unpleasant. And we see a lot of this, don't we? We have and we continue to. The genus of the sexual revolution, all of its perverted species, That it is a path to self-harm and self-destruction. But even though the consequences sometimes are the natural unfolding of these things, we are to make no mistake, this is the Lord's judgment. If the Lord will give someone over to their sin, I will throw her onto a sickbed. Those who commit adultery with her will be thrown into great tribulation. They will be struck down. There is no mistake to be made about this, that this is the Lord's judgment upon. He is the one, remember, as we see in verse 23, who searches mind and heart. He's the one who renders to each according to their works. But for the rest of them, now we turn to the blessing to the rest of them in Thyatira. Those who do not hold to this teaching, there is the promise of blessing here. who do not hold to this teaching, who have not, verse 24, 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 deep things of Satan. Now, it's really unlikely that this teaching was called the deep things of Satan. But Christ is calling it for what it is here. Certainly, it likely was something that was called the deeper things. If you want to learn more, if you want to have greater knowledge, come, we'll give you, we'll show you the deeper things, maybe even referred to as the deeper things of God. It's very rare that Satan comes in such explicit revealing of himself. Paul says he's an angel of light. He doesn't come dressed in the red suit and with the horns and the pitchfork and all. Although it does seem in our day that explicit Satanist teaching following is sort of in vogue, but most of the time it's more subtle. So this is likely something that was just understood to be deeper things, but Christ calls it for what it is. No, these are the deep things of Satan. This is demonic. This is satanic. It's not truth. It's falsehood. It's been birthed by the father of all lies. That's what this Jezebel is doing, who calls herself a prophetess. But for those who haven't succumbed to that, who haven't learned those, what some call the deep things, If they hold fast, if they conquer, if they overcome what they're being tempted to do in this situation, here we find great blessing promised to them. And this is, so we've seen what's around the bend for those who are following the pathway of Jezebel. This is what's around the bend for those who are following the pathway of faithfulness, of overcoming, of holding fast, as verse 25 says. Look at verse 26, through the one who conquers. 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." What he's really saying here is that the one who overcomes this and remains faithful and holds fast will have a share in the reign of the Messiah. That's what's being promised. That is the language. We mentioned Psalm 2 earlier. This is the language of Psalm 2. I will give him authority over the nations. That was what was promised to the Son, the Son of God in Psalm 2. He will rule them with a rod of iron. That's what Psalm 2 says. And it speaks of him coming to rule the nations with a rod of iron and dash the rebellious kings in pieces like earthen pots and vessels. This is the exact language that we find here. is to say in the fullness of the messianic age, the fullness of the reign of the Messiah, that those who are faithful to him will have a share in this. And then we have this language of the morning star. Some think that's a reference to Venus, the first heavenly body that's visible early in the morning, but really the rising of the star of Jacob. Again, as a reference to a king who is to arise. Again, it is messianic language, a share with the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and to reign with him. All of this is to tell us that the promises of God to his son are also fulfilled in and his people have a share in them. It's a wonderful, wonderful blessing. Well, this is the Lord's assessment of the church in Thyatira. John, in chapter 1, in the vision that he received of the exalted Christ, introduced us in what he wrote down to the assessor. Well, in chapters 2 and chapter 3, we are seeing his assessment of the churches. He's the sovereign judge. whose eyes are a flame of fire, whose feet are burnished bronze. He sees all, he knows all, he searches minds and hearts, and he judges accordingly. As we consider Christ, as we consider his judgment, as we consider his promises, as we consider ourselves in light of this church, we're reminded, as we have been, of temptations to compromise. Things we need to continue in because we want the Lord's commendation, but also things we need to avoid. And some of those temptations that we've seen are more explicit. They're easier to identify than others. Others are more subtle. We might have a more subtle one here. We think about explicit persecution, like with the church in Smyrna. We think about blatant idol worship. Those things are easy to identify. And sometimes they're easier to flee or they're easier to reject just because they are that much easier to identify. When it's clear what's right and what's wrong, the pathway that we need to take is easier to see. But there are other times when things are more subtle, and this could be the case for us in something like a situation in Thyatira. Because this is the temptation to compromise when pennies are pinched. whenever there is economic hardship, that we're tempted to cave. After all, we've all got families to feed. We've all got bills to pay. The Lord knows that we have to get along. The Lord knows that we have all these responsibilities. And I'm not thinking in particular of any specific participation at the moment to say that if you're participating in this, that you are guilty of the sin that we find in Thyatira. But we do need to see the reality of how economic pressure the desire to maintain financial stability as it was for them to participate in the economy, to have financial stability for their businesses to thrive, to be a part of these trade guilds, and how dependent the local economy was on that, and how dependent the people were who were within the church, but also within the city, and the expectations that were placed upon them to being a part of this economy in these guilds. We need to see how we could be tempted to compromise if those things, like financial stability, if those things are threatened. Because those are the types of things that usually come before the Christians are being fed to the lions. The pennies are pinched. Things get a little tighter. Things are just a little more uncomfortable. And so we're tempted to give in. What does the Lord want from us? Well, verse 24, as we consider this, we say, well, the Lord knows we have bills to pay. He knows we have mouths to feed. His purpose is not to put an unnecessary burden upon us. It's what he says. Exactly. I lay on you no other burden. He says only hold fast what you have until I come. The only thing he's requiring of us here is faithfulness to him. Loyalty to his name, trusting in him. What does he want from those who are tolerating Jezebel? What does he want for those who are participating in it? He tells them that as well, and it's nothing unreasonable whatsoever. Verse 21, I gave her time to repent. She refuses. She refuses. His desire is not to punish them, though he will. He speaks of that sickbed of that great tribulation of that striking her children dead. All of this judgment. That is the path. Remember, that is leading. But if they fail to repent, but what does he call them to? What is he giving them time for? It is to repent. There are dire consequences to come. But here we have our Lord Jesus. Yes, the sovereign judge with eyes like a flame of fire. And yet he is the patient savior. He is holding out his hands. to a disobedient church and he's calling her to repent. The question is, will she? Will she repent and return to him in faith? Let's pray. You are just, O Lord. You're just in all of your words and all of your works. And we confess, O Lord, that we know there are temptations. To compromise, as you told the church in Smyrna, there may be more difficult days ahead of us than even that we know now. We ask, oh Lord, that you would grant to us faith, that we would not put our hope in princes, in economies, in men, but that our hope would be in you. And by this faith, O Lord, we pray that you would grant us faithfulness, that we would hold fast, that we would be loyal to the one who is the true king and sovereign, that we would know that the reward for those who hold fast is very great. We pray, O Lord, that you would give us eyes to see beyond this present world, to see the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, to know that although the kingdoms of this earth teeter and totter and ultimately fall, for they are built upon men with feet of clay. And we know, O Lord, that Christ's kingdom forever will stand, that it will have no end, that upon his shoulders lies the government, that the increase of his kingdom will never, never end. And so may we be satisfied to know that you have given us a share in his reign. And we pray, O Lord, that you would give us such eyes to see as we ask these things in his name. Amen.