SEVEN SERIES INTRODUCTION
To
accompany our ‘SEVEN’ teaching series at Community Church Putney, over seven
weeks (this is week 3) I will put out a blog each Monday, looking at the seven
letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 -3. These letters are
hard-hitting and very relevant and useful in the times that we find ourselves.
LETTER 4: INTEGRITY OF WHAT AND WHY
Listen to the message at: FILL YOUR HEART WITH A SUPERIOR 'WHY'
The letter to the Church of Thyatira 2:18-29
Explanation and daily studies for personal/family
use week beginning 30/1/17
i) Explanatory notes on
2:18-29
Not a large city but was
great through commerce in wool, linen, leather and bronze work. Guilds (like
today’s unions) were organized around these occupations, each having a patron
deity, entailing feasts, often with sexual revelries.
This letter challenges us as
to whether we have integrity of what and why, that is good works coming out of
truth. It’s tempting to be strong on serving or truth; a great church holds both as vital. There is constantly
the danger of faith without works or works without faith
i) Description
of Jesus – Son of God in Power
Read Revelation 2:18.
“Son of
God” – Under pressure to
worship the Roman Emperor as the Son of God, Jesus is calling them to loyal
worship of the true only Son.
“Eyes of
blazing fire” – communicates Jesus’ holy passion, His supernatural
divine nature and perfect vision of our hearts.
“Feet of
glowing bronze” – Glowing metal highlights His superior strength,
stability and glory (Ezekiel 1:27)
ii) Praise – Good
works, done increasing, with a good attitude
Read Revelation 2:19. They receive high
praise indeed. They are doing good things (they have a ‘what’), motived by love
(the ‘why’), and they are doing so ever increasingly! I’m sure that we would
all love to hear anyone, let alone God, say this about us!
iii) Criticism – Listening
to false prophets
Read Revelation 2:20. Members of this
church had been ‘led astray’ by the false prophet ‘Jezebel’. This may be her real name, or it may
represent a person (man or woman) who was leading people through false teaching
into idolatry and sexual immorality like Jezebel in the Old Testament (1 Ki.
16: 31; 2 Ki. 9: 22).
They have
in imbalance of what and why
Thyatira’s praise and criticisms are the reverse of
the Ephesians; they are strong in love and perseverance, doing more than they
did ‘at first’. But, unlike the Ephesian church, they tolerate ‘wicked people’
who spread false teaching; their ‘why’ – what they believe, was being
undermined; like a broken compass, this was exposing them to dangerous cliffs
and shipwreck.
Jesus holds the church leaders particularly
responsible. One of the key roles of an elder is to protect and teach the
church. They have to be men who can recognise and have the courage to deal with
error and those that bring it. It is not always good to tolerate people. In the
case of people who spread discord, immorality and false teaching, they need to
be expelled from the church (1 Cor. 5:9-13; 2 Thess. 3:6)
Jezebel’s teaching is described as “Satan’s so-called
deep secrets”. Many are attracted to the newer or ‘deeper’ things; we can
become spiritual consumers always looking for our next excitement fix.
iv) Solution – Repent
and hold on
Read Revelation 2:21. As we saw with the
church of Pergamum (Last session) they are told to repent. Let’s think about
this in a bit more detail. Are you being led astray by false teachers that
entice you to believe wrong things and indulge the ‘flesh’ particularly in
regard to sexual sin? Are you being influenced into trusting in spiritual
forces other than the true God? Are you indulging in and being led astray by
films and entertainment that offend God? Are you quick to believe psychological
theories and popular teaching and morality over God’s word? Let’s not be, like
Jezebel, ‘unwilling’ to repent.
Read Revelation 2:24-25. Another solution, when under pressure to compromise or
be attracted to popular, alluring, false teaching, is simply to “hold on
to what you have”. Keep hold of the truth of scripture and the gospel.
This command is particularly vital for anyone with any kind of leadership or
who teaches in the local church (1 Tim. 3:9).
v) Warning –
Suffering, even death
Read Revelation 2:22-23. God does
use fear as a motivator. For Jezebel and her devotees there will be intense
discipline from God and even death! We see this teaching in other places in the
New Testament such as 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 and Acts 5:1-11.
Let this urge all of us onto self-examination. But let
those with hypersensitive consciences and those who struggle with fear and
self-condemnation know that God will clearly reveal serious sin of this kind to
you.
vi) Promise – Ruling
with Christ
Read Revelation 2:26-28.
‘Ruling with Christ’ – Continuing to believe (the
Perseverance of the Saints) is a proof that one is a Christian (See Matthew
24:13). To such persevering people He gives this mysterious but astounding
promise of ruling with Christ.
Revelation is about heavenly conflict with the
ultimate victory and restoration of Jesus’ rule in the earth (see 11:15; 12:5;
19:15-16). Another theme is the surprising idea that we will reign with Him
(see 1:6; 3:21; 20:6; 1 Cor. 6:2). Whatever this means, it’s a great
encouragement to this divided church and to us in our secular world.
‘The
morning star’ – In Revelation 22:16 also we read that Jesus is the
‘morning star’, His coming is a direct fulfillment of the prophecy of Numbers
24:17 “I see him, but not now; I behold
him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of
Israel.” So the promise for Christians is that we will have Jesus – be in
close relationship with Him – forever.
ii) Daily Studies on 2:18-29
INTEGRITY OF WHAT AND WHY – Letter
to Thyatira 2:18-29
To listen to some people you
would think that the only thing that matters is what you do and say in public;
that thoughts and inner motives are secondary or not important. To God, the
heart and what one believes is of the highest value, they shape our actions and
give value to what we do. What we do and why we do it must be held together or
what we do is a dead thing!
Monday – Memory verse for this week
Take time to memorise,
meditate upon and pray based upon this text.
2 Timothy 2:15 ‘Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not
need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.’
Tuesday – Jesus
praises them for what they are doing
Jesus praises them: “I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance,
and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” (2:19) Pray that
you, and CCP (or your church) would have, and be growing, in these kinds of
attributes.
Wednesday – Jesus
confronts them about what they believe
In Ephesus love was missing. We may have
concluded, like the Beatles, “All you
need is love…” But we would be wrong! This church has love, but some lacked
truth - lacked integrity of what and
why: they were doing great things (the what), but they were believing
lies (the why). How are you doing in growing in your understanding of truth?
Read 2 Timothy 2:15 and pray that this would be true of yourself.
Thursday – beware
false teachers
There will always be false
teachers. The most dangerous are those that are ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’; they look nice, maybe they even are nice! They are just right enough to
be believable, but wrong enough to cause damage. Let’s keep a watch on our
spiritual diet – let’s ensure that we are learning from the elders/shepherds
that God has put over us and that we are always listening with discernment,
taking care to ‘Avoid godless chatter,
because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their
teaching will spread like gangrene’ (2 Tim. 2:16-17). Read 2 Tim. 2:25-26,
4:2-4
Friday – The
fight of faith
Jesus urges them to “Hold on to what you have” – keep
persevering in believing the right things.
How do we know what is true, so as to hold on to it, and what is false
so as to reject it? The bible is the simple answer (interpretations that have
stood the test of time, by teachers we respect, is a longer answer). Let’s
study and work hard to know, hold on to, and apply the teachings of scripture.
Read and pray out of 1 Timothy 6:20-21 and Ephesians 6:16-17
