Series: Journey Through Revelation (Week 2 of 8)
Dr. Woodrow Kroll
July 16, 2010

Woodrow Kroll:  When your patient endurance becomes nothing more than open toleration, you have a problem. And that was the problem in the early church of Thyatira.

Tami Weissert: And it's a problem for many churches today. What does God say about that?

Woodrow Kroll: Find out in our study. Hi, I'm Woodrow Kroll.

Tami Weissert: I'm Tami Weissert.

Woodrow Kroll: And this is Back to the Bible.

Tami Weissert: Tolerance is a big deal in our society today. So how would you define a church that's fallen a victim to tolerance here in the 21st century?

Woodrow Kroll: A church of tolerance is a church that allows into its doctrine and into its practices the things that it's supposed to be against. In the 21st century society, we don't want to appear to be negative. We don't want to appear to be against anything. So while we may believe the Christian doctrine as we find it in the Bible, if we don't speak out against other doctrines that are not found in the Bible, then we're tolerating those doctrines and that's an example of the universal church of toleration.

Tami Weissert: My guess is that this doesn't happen overnight; it happens over time, little by little?

Woodrow Kroll: It does. It's kind of like the frog in the kettle, heating so slowly that the frog doesn't even know it's going to die. There's a big difference between being hard-nosed and being opposed to everything in the church.

I think every church needs to check out its own mission statement. Check it with the pastors and the elders and the people together. Draw some lines in the sand and say to yourself, "This line we will not cross over. And when we see ourselves taking steps clearly leading to that line, we'll stop that path as soon as possible."

Tami Weissert: Let's see what Jesus had to say to the church of toleration at Thyatira. Here's today's Back to the Bible study.

Woodrow Kroll: Well, as we have done all this week, let's think a little bit about, first of all, where this city is located, the city of Thyatira and then talk a little bit about the city before we get to the church.

Again, if you have an atlas in the back of your Bible, that's wonderful because these churches are kind of in a circle. You start at Ephesus on the western edge of Asia Minor which is Turkey today, and you go north and wrap around east and then go south and finally back west. You make the circle.

The Church of Thyatira is about 40 miles southeast of Pergamos. Now, remember, we have been going north in the churches we've talked about prior to this. Now, we're going southeast completing the eastward side of the circle. Basically, this is in the countryside.

This is not a city church at all. This is out in the middle of nowhere. There was trade in the city but not a great deal of foreign trade in the city. They had no particular god associated with their city of Thyatira. It was a craft city. It was a trade city.

There were a lot of guilds, unions, we'd call them today. And these guilds would pressure people to be a part of their particular guild. So, there might be a goldworkers guild or silverworkers guild or there was a guild for those who worked in dye and in purple because as you remember, Thyatira is the city of purple. Acts 16 Lydia, the first to convert to Christianity in Europe, she was living in the city of Philippi; but she was from this city, Thyatira. And her industry was the cloth industry in which she would dye cloth this particular purple that was found here in the city of Thyatira.

Because of the strong influence of the guilds, it became important that you became a part of the guild or you couldn't find work in the city of Thyatira. But the guilds also were extremely paganistic. They were extremely sexually oriented.

And a lot of Christians did not want to join a guild because what they heard on Sunday in the pastor's sermon was exactly the opposite of what they saw all week long at work. Some of you would know exactly what that's like.

And they didn't want to join the union or the guild because of the sexual overtones of the guilds. But they couldn't survive without a job. And that put them in a very serious situation. So, sadly the people of Thyatira, including people in the church in Thyatira, joined the guilds, and as a result, sexual sin came into the church.

They believed the Gospel. They trusted the Word of God as they knew it. But they were tolerant to every other belief in town because they felt they had to be. They had to make a living.

So, what do you say to a church that has learned the fine art of toleration, is willing to tolerate anything just to get along in life? Interestingly enough, this is the smallest of the seven churches of Revelation.

This is the smallest church, the smallest town; but it's the longest letter. This letter encompasses 12 verses. If we want to get through all of them, we'd better get to it today. Revelation 2:18, "And to the angel," that is the pastor or the messenger, "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."'"

Now, you've see a pattern is developing here. Every time Jesus provides a message to one of these churches, He gives them commendation before He warns them.

So, the first thing He says to the church at Thyatira, as He has done to the other churches, is, "Good job!" 

But notice how Jesus appears here, this is a message that comes from One who has eyes of blazing fire and feet of burnished bronze. Kind of reminds us of chapter 1, doesn't it? Verses 14 and 15, where Jesus is defined by His role of scrutiny, He has the ability to see right through the lives of these people.

In fact, He the ability to see right through your life and mine, to see sin in our lives that we hide from everybody else. Well, that's what He is going to do in this church. And we know exactly that the church of Thyatira is very much like the church of 21st century because we are going to face the same kind of scrutiny from the same person that this church did.

So, here's what He has to say to this Church of Thyatira:

First of all, He says, "I know your deeds. You know, I know the good works that you do. That's good.

"I know your love. I know the motivation behind your deeds. You have done these things in love."

By the way, this is the only church that receives a commendation for its love. Other churches receive it because they're big or because they hold the line. This is the only church that talks about its love. And, isn't it interesting, this is the smallest church? Ephesus is the largest church; it's the megachurch. And to Ephesus Jesus says, "You left your first love." He commends this tiny church because of their love.

He says thirdly, "I know your faith. I know your commitment to a body of truth that was delivered to you from those who preceded you."

"I know your service." The word here is deaconing. "I know your voluntary ministry for the church of the Lord Jesus. You did what you did out of great motivation. I appreciate that. I say to you, 'Good job!'"

And then He says, "I know your patience, your perseverance. You never quit. You never let up."

Finally, He says, "I know that your last works were even better than your first works."

Now, basically, what He is saying to this church is, "I can see the progress in your life. You're growing as people. You're growing as a church. You're not standing still. You're not resting on your past achievements. You're ever increasing in ministry. I can see all that. And I commend you for all that. And I'm grateful that all that is true in your life.

And as Jesus does for every one of these other churches, He begins by commendation. He says, "Church of Thyatira, good job!" But He isn't finished.

Tami Weissert: Hi, this is Tami and you're listening to Back to the Bible with Bible teacher, Woodrow Kroll. We're studying Revelation all this month and today, specifically chapter 2 and Jesus' words to the church at Thyatira.

Wood, Jesus commended this church for their love and that's a good thing, but our desire to show love can lead us down the path to tolerance. So what does it take to find the balance so that we're operating with the right kind of love?

Woodrow Kroll: All things, Tami, especially all emotions should be based on fact. I know that sounds funny because a lot of people operate on their emotions and they don't care about the facts at all. But just think about this: Your emotions tell you to love. The facts tell you not to love everything. Some things are just wrong. So when you read in the paper in the morning about a drive-by shooting, you don't say, "Don't you just love it?" You don't say "love it." You despise it. Love is not willy nilly. Love is not universal for everything. We ought not love war or jealousy or hate. We ought not love the cheater, the abuser, the ruthless mass murderer. Love must always be based on fact. That's why the Bible tells us to speak the truth in love. The truth represents the factual basis of what we speak. And love represents the compassionate way in which we say that truth.

Tami Weissert: Out of the commendations we've seen so far for all of the churches, help us understand God's view of what the church should be.

Woodrow Kroll: Many people take a look at the letters to the seven churches of Revelation and they all see warnings and threats but look at how many times the Lord Jesus commends them first and then He goes on to warn them. I think we should do the same. Find something good to say to someone before you have to dwell on the bad things. God sees so many good things in these churches which He's quick to point out. But when the wrong outweighs the right, while you mention the right, you certainly can't neglect the wrong.

Tami Weissert: Studying Revelation helps set your mind toward the future. Wood, as Christians, there's a very important appointment waiting for us in the future, isn't there?

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, I call it the final review, because it's an appointment that will determine our eternal rewards.

Tami Weissert: And it's a good idea to prepare for that day right now.

Woodrow Kroll: Absolutely, because once you arrive at the Judgment Seat of Christ, your chance to earn rewards will be behind you.

Tami Weissert: All right, so today is the day! Learn more about the Judgment Seat of Christ, salvation, and eternal rewards when you order Facing Your Final Job Review by Woodrow Kroll. And when you order the book Facing Your Final Job Review, you'll also receive the companion study guide at no extra cost while supplies last.

That's Facing Your Final Job Review. Order it today and receive study guide free while supplies last. Call us at 1-800-759-2425.

We're in Revelation 2 looking at the message Christ has for the church at Thyatira. Here again is Dr. Kroll.

Woodrow Kroll:  Well, here on Back to the Bible, we want to make sure we say exactly what the Bible has to say. And when we get to the church of Thyatira, the Bible has some good things to say about this church. You see those commendations in verse 18 and again in verse 19.

Now, we are going to turn our attention to verse 20 because in verse 20, you get that "nevertheless" again. He says, "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and beguile My servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent" (Revelation 2:20-21).

Well, I think that's enough for a minute for us to talk about here in our study together. What is He talking about here? This is the universal church of toleration. Yes, they did a good job, but there is that woman Jezebel there? You tolerate things.

There are four issues Jesus takes up with this church:

First of all, He says, "You tolerate things you should never tolerate."

Before we get to the woman, Jezebel, let's talk about toleration because you know what? You and I live in a postmodern world. And the chief virtue of the postmodern world is toleration.

We are asked to tolerate everything. We are asked to tolerate every religion. We are asked to tolerate every lifestyle regardless of what God thinks about those lifestyles. We are asked to tolerate everything.

Now, I think that's indicative of the fact that even in the church today we have been groomed to tolerate everything else. We don't know what truth is because we tolerate everything that isn't truth. G. K. Chesterton, that great British writer, G. K. Chesterton said that, "Tolerance is the virtue of the people who don't believe in anything."

I think he is right. If you don't know the truth, you will tolerate mistruth or untruth. Toleration is what was wrong in this church. They tolerated everything. Now, *Josh McDowell writes about toleration frequently. One of the things I think that I resonate with more than anything he said is this, he says, "Tolerance says, 'You must approve of what I do.' Love responds, 'I must do something harder: I will love you, even when your behavior offends me.'

"Tolerance says, 'You must agree with me.' Love responds, 'I must do something harder: I will tell you the truth, because I am convinced that the truth will set you free.'

"Tolerance says, 'You must allow me to have my way.' Love responds, 'I must do something harder: I will plead with you to follow the right way, because I believe you are worth the risk.'"

See, if we tolerate what goes on in the world around us, rather than point it out in love as sin, we only aid and abet the enemy.

And that's what this church was doing, the church of Thyatira. Sure, they had things that the Lord commended them for. But He says, "Watch out, because you tolerate things in your church that are part of the world that I do not tolerate."

So, first of all, He says, "I have to warn you. Watch out. Be careful of tolerating everything."

Secondly, He says, "I have to warn you about that woman, Jezebel."

Now, I don't know who this woman is. Some people think she was the pastor's wife. That's probably not true. It was probably a woman, though, an actual living person, in this church, who had some of the Jezebel-like qualities.

You remember Jezebel in the Old Testament. Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, you can read all about her in 1 King 16, 18, 19, 21. I mean this woman had great influence on sinful things that happened in the Old Testament.

Well, the Jezebel of the Old Testament was a woman of clever deception. She was a really bright person. She dominated the people around her, and she had great influence on everybody around her. She was a real TV-type, you know. She was the kind of person you would cast in a dominating role in a television program.

But what's the problem with this woman? Notice what it says about her here in verse 20. He says, "Jezebel calls herself a prophetess to teach and beguile My servants." Here's a woman who says, "I have the gift of prophecy. I am going to teach you the truth." And, in the process of doing so, she's actually beguiling the people of the church.

Now, look, the criticism here is not because she claims she has the gift to prophecy. It's not even because she teaches us. It's because what she does while she is teaching is she is committing sexual immorality.

So, what we have here is a woman who claims to be a teacher, who claims to be a prophetess, who is living immorally and conducting a ministry at the same time. And He says, "You can't tolerate a person like that in your church."

Here's the third thing He says, "This woman calls herself to be a prophetess. She's a popular personality. She teaches and deceives believers about sexual immorality and food that's offered to idols. Basically, what this woman, with Jezebel characteristics, is doing is she's saying, "It's OK to do what I do because see how God is blessing my ministry. You know, there is lots of money rolling in. And I have things to send you. And I have written seven books now. And God is blessing my ministry. So, it's OK for me to live the way I live. And, by the way, it's OK for you to do it too."

The final thing He says about Jezebel as a woman you find in verses 21-23, He says, "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. And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works."

Sickbed, people killed with her, the disease, the sexually-transmitted diseases that are plaguing the 21st century, all of this--not at all unexpected by the Lord Jesus.

So, He has to say here, "This is a church that has done a good job in a difficult place, out of the way place, little burg in the middle of nowhere; but they tolerate everything they see around them. And, specifically, they tolerate this woman in their midst who's leading them astray. And He says, "Because of that, I have to warn you. Watch out."

And here's what I want you to know about Me. "I'm the One," He says in verse 23 the second half of the verse. "I am the One who will scrutinize everything that is done in the church by everyone in the church and I will repay according to what I find in their lives."

Now, I have to tell you what I learned from this verse: Jesus watches everything I do, and Jesus knows the motivation for everything I do. So, you have heard me say this a million times, I want to say it one more time. My major job here at Back To The Bible is to have clean hands and a pure heart because God only blesses that which is clean and that which is pure and that only happens when we come to the Lord Jesus on a regular basis and confess our sins and get His forgiveness and His righteousness in place of our sins--1 John 1:9.

You have to remember, as do I that every kick has a sidekick. You know, so every time I try to hide my sin somehow it comes back to hurt me and to hurt my ministry. Jesus one day will judge each of us based on what we have done for Him and how we have done it. And if there is a Jezebel in the church, doing her thing, in her way and living in immorality, you have to know, God says, "I'm going to judge that."

Tami Weissert: You're listening to Back to the Bible with Woodrow Kroll. Hi, I'm Tami Weissert.

Wood, Christ told this church, "Good job and watch out!" But now in verses 24-28, He also encourages them to hold fast.

Woodrow Kroll: It's a trilogy almost. "Good job" relates to past performance. "Watch out" relates to their present condition. Good job in the past can turn to a bad job in the present if we're not warned. And hold fast is a challenge for the future. There are rough waters ahead for this church. They need to hold tight to the things that caused Jesus to say "good job" in the first place.

Tami Weissert: You said earlier if we tolerate what goes on in the world around us rather than point it out in love as sin, we only aid and abet the enemy. That statement is convicting big time. So what's it going to take to get us to get over feeling uncomfortable, to stop looking the other way and just take some action?

Woodrow Kroll: Nobody is going to like the answer to this. Are you sure you want me to answer it?

Tami Weissert: Yes, I do.

Woodrow Kroll: All right. The answer is backbone. That's what it's going to take. It's going to take the church having a lot more backbone than it's shown in the last quarter of a century. The church has to shut out sin even if that means shutting out sinners. The church needs to speak out against injustice even if it means those causing the injustice and probably the biggest contributors to the offering plate decide to leave the church.

Here's the bottom line, Tami. The church of the 21st century is at a crossroads. They have to decide whether they like their big numbers better, their expansion program better, their program for every life situation better or whether they like God better.

It doesn't always have to be this way, of course, but we have forgotten that the only person in church we have to please is God Himself; not our pastor buddies, not our denominational leaders or even our local Christian tabloid. When God is pleased, I suspect many churches will look far different from the way they look today.

Tami Weissert: As we were preparing for our series in Revelation, it occurred to us that it would be helpful to have some sort of handy reference to keep track of all the characters and places and events in Revelation. So we've created the Revelation Roadmap. Wood, do you want to describe it to our listeners?

Woodrow Kroll: Absolutely! The Revelation Roadmap is a handy little reference chart. It fits right into your Bible. One side has a timeline of the end times. The other side has a glossary of terms found in Revelation.

Tami Weissert: Terms like "four living creatures," "white horse," "Great White Throne Judgment."

Woodrow Kroll: It's helpful to have these descriptions nearby as you read.

Tami Weissert: And as you said, it's just the right size. It fits inside most Bibles and it's a pretty sturdy piece so it will last for a long time.

Woodrow Kroll: You're going to want to keep it for a long time. It's called the Revelation Roadmap and it's yours for the asking.

Tami Weissert: There's no charge for it. Just call and ask for the Revelation Roadmap. And by the way, we'll include the Revelation Roadmap at no extra charge when you order any of our Revelation products.

Woodrow Kroll: So give us a call.

Tami Weissert: The phone number is 1-800-759-2425.

Well, we've looked at four churches, Wood, and that means there are three more to cover next week.

Woodrow Kroll: Yes, the church at Sardis which I call the morgue with a steeple; the church in Philadelphia, the small church whose faithfulness allowed them to impact the entire world; and then of course the church in Laodicea, the church with plenty of worldly prestige and yet it had become lukewarm. All three of those churches we'll tackle next week as we continue our study in the Book of Revelation.

Well, the weekend is here and I know your going to want to be faithful to your church, your local church and your pastor this weekend. But join us on Monday as we think about the church in Sardis, the morgue with a steeple.

Thanks for dropping by today. God bless you. I'm Woodrow Kroll. Have a good and godly day, for of what lasting value is a good day if it's not also a godly day?

* © 2006 PreachingToday.com and Christianity Today International, Brett Kays, Brownstown, Michigan; source; Josh McDowell, Focus on the Family Magazine (August 1999).

Scripture used in today's program was based on the New King James Version of the Bible.