Revelation 2: Stanly Community Church

Transcription

1 Any church that tolerates sin will eventually find itself at a spiritual crossroads. The path of repentance leads to a restored and productive ministry. However, to continue on the path of compromise eventually leads to extinction as a witness for the kingdom of God. At this juncture, the Lord Jesus Christ calls out to those who profess His name. He pleads with worldly believers to repent and obey or face severe chastening. He likewise warns false believers of the judgment to come if they persist in their unbelief. But He assures the faithful that their obedience will be rewarded, even if their church is corrupted. The church in Thyatira (2:18) was a congregation in crisis. Over the course of several decades, sin had found a home among its members. Compromise of biblical truth had created a platform for false teaching, and even true believers had been seduced by it. The majority of its members were either carnal Christians or false believers. The faithful among them were few in number, and a condition of critical mass had been reached. In part one of the study regarding this church, it was noted that Christ stood ready to intervene with judgment. A woman claiming to speak for God had been allowed to usurp the place of leadership over the entire congregation a direct violation of apostolic doctrine (1 Tim. 2:11-15). With this platform, she seduced the majority to engage in sexual immorality and idol worship. Yet, there was no collective effort by the church to deal with these sins. Now they must repent or face the consequences. 1

2 This would have certainly been a great concern for the faithful believers, especially when this letter was read in the assembly (1:3; 2:18). No doubt, they would have wondered how the Lord s judgment would affect them. Part two of this study considers the Lord s exhortation to these Christians. While the church itself had been seduced and corrupted, the faithful were reminded of the purpose for being obedient. They were being effective representatives of His kingdom a preview of their future service when His kingdom comes in all its fullness to the earth. Thyatira: Seduced and Corrupted - Part II (2:24-29) The Exhortation (vv ) After condemning the disobedient, the Lord addresses the rest in Thyatira as many as do not have this doctrine (v. 24a). They would have despised the heresy of the Jezebel-like prophetess described in verse 20. And they would have certainly wanted the church to deal with these sins and put the persistently unrepentant out of the fellowship (cf. Matt. 18:15ff; 1 Cor. 5). However, they were outnumbered and without much of a say in the direction of the congregation. The discerning condemnation of the Lord, and the threat of His righteous judgment, would have only served to bolster the righteous indignation of the faithful. What He tells them in the last half of this letter is to encourage their zeal for holiness. It is a call to continue being obedient and look joyfully to their future reign with Him. 2

3 It helps to remember that this was the only church in the city. Unlike the multiplicity of churches available in our western culture, no other options existed for these Christians. If you wanted to fellowship with other Christians, they this was the Church in Thyatira. Yet to be involved in this particular congregation meant risking your own sanctification. The doctrine, which the majority had accepted, advocated ungodly behavior; it abused Christian liberty and presumed on the grace of God. They were evidently proud of that fact as indicated by the Lord s assessment our first verse. Here he acknowledges His faithful servants ( to you I say to the rest cf. marginal note) as those who have not known the depths of Satan, as they [i.e. the unfaithful] say (v. 24b). That is, the disobedient Christians and the false believers referred to the heretical teaching of their female teacher by this term. The Lord is merely employing their terminology. You see, the false prophetess taught that Christians could explore things that were obviously satanic (i.e. idol worship and sexual immorality), but that they could also come and worship Christ. They could engage in sin with impunity because, as she would have no doubt believed, they were under God s grace. It was rank, pre-gnostic heresy and libertinism at its worst. But the Lord clearly condemns these sins in this letter and throughout Scripture (cf. 1 Cor. 6:12-20; 8:1-13;10:1-22, etc.). 3

4 Since the faithful Christians in Thyatira had not embraced this false teaching (i.e. the had not known it), Christ says, I will put on you no other burden (v. 24c). He is saying, in essence, It is enough that you have to deal with this sinful church. I know that you are grieved about their ways just as I am. But you have no need to fear My judgment, because you are being faithful to Me. The Lord did not want His obedient servants burdened by His letter. Instead, His words of exhortation for them are to provide comfort and encouragement. While the unfaithful majority desired to plumb the depths of the devil s ways, Christ knew that the faithful minority in the church desired to obey. And to these He says, But hold fast what you have till I come (v. 25). What they had was obedient faith. That is, their faith produced works that were commendable, and the Lord will reward those when He comes in glory to establish His kingdom on the earth (cf. v. 23). This gives us the context for what Christ says in the next two verses. Using the same language He employs in the other letters, He refers to the true and faithful believer as he who overcomes (cf. 2:7, 11, 17; 3:5,12, 21). Even if an overwhelming majority of true Christians in any church are disobedient, those who do obey the Lord demonstrate what it means to really serve Him. These are acting like saints living in practical holiness which reflects the positional holiness that is theirs in Christ (Rom. 6:1-23). 4

5 Real Christian liberty strives for holiness, not the excessive abuse of grace demonstrated by the majority in the church of Thyatira. Being under the grace of God is not license to sin, but rather the power and motivation to be sanctified (Rom. 12:1-2). The apostle John teaches us in his first epistle that the true Christian is an overcomer whose obedience reflects their love for the Lord (e.g. 1 Jn. 5:1-5). So to overcome is not simply to be saved from the penalty of sin. It is to also be saved from its power, so that we can have the opportunity to do the will of God from the heart (Rom. 7:15-25). This is what the Lord means here when He defines the overcomer as the one who keeps My works until the end. He is saying that steadfast obedience to His Word is proof of saving faith. You see, even though a true believer can live in sin, they have no assurance of their salvation from a practical standpoint. When we are unrepentant, we rob ourselves of the joyful fellowship with God that comes from obedience. And we call into question the sincerity of our faith. There is no benefit to continuing in sin so that grace may abound (Rom. 6:1). But the Christians of Thyatira who remained faithful could keep their eyes on the heavenly prize (Phil. 3:14). And what is that prize? It is to reign in glory with Christ in His kingdom. This is what Jesus means when He says, to [the faithful overcomer] I will will give power over the nations. It is a reference to the Millennial Kingdom of Christ further identified in Revelation 20:4-6. 5

6 When Christ returns in glory, He will establish the throne of His ancestor, David (Lk. 1:32-33). He will reign for a thousand years following the Great Tribulation (Rev. 6-18). During this time He will fulfill God s promises to Israel and bless the world (Gen. 12:3). However, the kingdom will initially be populated by people who are redeemed but, as of yet, not glorified (i.e. in their natural bodies). They will be of the nation Israel and from the other Gentile nations. The offspring of all during this time will still be born with a sinful nature and will need to repent and trust in the King. Christ s rule over these people will be totally righteous, but there will still be rebellion in their hearts in the absence of satanic influence (Rev. 20:1-3, 7-10) thus proving that, even with perfect conditions, mankind is inherently sinful. But until the Millennium is over and the final judgment comes (Rev. 20:11-15), the Lord will enforce His righteous will and protect the faithful. This is why He references Psalm 2:9: He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter s vessel (v. 27a). It is a prophecy of the sovereign thousand year rule of the Christ which will crush rebellion as soon as it rises. Not until the end of that time will He permit the devil to be loosed to entice the unrepentant to a final uprising. However, that will also be crushed by the Lord, the final judgment will occur, and the new heavens and earth will be established. 6

7 The whole of the second psalm conveys God the Father s promise of the kingdom to God the Son. He tells Him that the nations will be His inheritance even to the ends of the earth (Ps. 2:8) the meaning of Jesus further statement here: as I also have received from My Father (v. 27b). But all of this supports the promise of verse 26, which is that Jesus Christ will share His reign with the saints of all the ages (O.T., Church, and Tribulation). Again, this is confirmed in Revelation 20:4-6, but other passages such as 1 Corinthians 6:2, 2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 1:6 and 5:10 also support it. Our Lord Jesus Christ will delegate power to His servants to enforce His righteous will in the kingdom having authority to judge and administer punishment in His name. Our service now is rewarded with more in the future, even if our local congregation is not faithful. While these obedient believers in Thyatira yearned for the Lord s will to be done in their church, the congregation as a whole did not share their desire. But in the future kingdom, the Lord s will shall unequivocally be enforced, and they would have part in making that happen. It was confirmation that they were doing the right thing as they represented the kingdom. 7

8 All Christians receive eternal life as emphasized in each of these letters. However, here the Lord describes the fullness of that life. We have eternal life now, but then it will be unhindered by the world, the flesh and the devil. It will be glorious and completely fulfilling. There will be no unfaithful servants at that point. The joy of this glorious reign is also stressed in verse 28, where He says, I will give him [i.e. the believer] the morning star." The Lord Jesus Himself uses this title later in the book to describe His glory as King (Rev. 22:16). 2 Peter 1:19 reminds us that we know Christ from Scripture, and we should obey it until we see Him in His glory as the morning star (2 Pet. 1:19). That is, when the kingdom dawns, we will know and serve our glorious King We serve Him now by faith, but then we will serve Him face to face (cf. 1 Cor. 13:12). As the apostle John says in his first epistle: Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 Jn. 3:2-3). That is to say, because we look forward to serving Him in glory, we seek to serve Him faithfully now. 8

9 Once again, the Lord closes with an urgent call to heed His words. The one who has ears to hear is the true believer, who will recognize this as the King s message. What He is saying to His servants is conveyed to the churches by the Spirit of God. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals truth to the Church and enables believers to understand and obey it. Although the Lord chastens and refines His church for disobedience in this present age, there is coming a time when all believers will serve Him faithfully. We will represent the kingdom in complete righteousness as we share in His glorious reign. The faithful minority of believers in Thyatira were accurately demonstrating sanctified service to the King. The church in Thyatira was seduced and corrupted by sin. It was at a crossroads as a congregation, and the Lord had need to intervene with judgment for the sake of His glory and the purity of His Church. The faithful believers needed to know they had nothing to fear. The significant truths we glean from this letter are that the Lord does not tolerate sin in His Church even if His servants do. He directly judges unrepentant sin, but He prefers that we judge ourselves according to His Word. Also, He assures us that we have nothing to fear if we are obedient. Even though the Church struggles at times to represent the kingdom, true believers will reign with Him in full glory. Are you zealous for holiness in the Church? 9