I Know Your Spirituality

Sermon, October 25, 2009
Revelation 2:18-29

The Good Things Jesus Said to the Thyatiran Church

We are examining the messages of Jesus to the seven churches of the Revelation. Today we come to the fourth church, Thyatira. I want to start with the good things that Jesus had to say to the Thyatiran church.

2:18 "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. 19"'I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first…..

Jesus commended the church at Thyatira for these things:

(1) it was characterized by the hard work for which the Ephesian church was noted, but it had not fallen away from its first love as had the Ephesian church;

(2) it shared with the church of Smyrna the patient endurance of persecution;

(3) it had stood up to external threat of emperor worship as well as the church at Pergamum;

(4) moreover, the church at Thyatira was improving, doing more in its second generation than it had in its first generation.

There were some in Thyatira who deserved gold stars on their brows.

The Not So Good things Jesus Said to the Pergamum and Thyatiran Churches

Now we turn to the not so good things Jesus had to say.

Last week, when we focused on the problem of the Pergamum emperor cult, we skipped over the cult that had infiltrated the Pergamum church. Here is what he said about that:

2:14But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

Here is what Jesus said about a similar cult in the Thyatiran church:

2:20But I have this against you, that 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. 21I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.

Jesus gave nicknames to the false prophets in the Pergamum and the Tyatiran churches; he called them Balaam and Jezebel respectively.

We know that, in the Old Testament, when Israel was in the wilderness, Balaam led Israel into sacrificing to idols and participating in immoral fertility cults.

Centuries later, when Ahab was king in Israel, Queen Jezebel also led Israel into sacrificing to idols and participating in immoral fertility cults.

Balaam of Pergamum and Jezebel of Thyatira were leading gullible church members into the same sorts of impure spiritual practices. In both cases, the churches of those cities failed to protect their members from being misled.

The Balaamites of Pergamum and the Jezebelites of Thyatira were somehow persuaded that what they were doing was not wrong. I imagine that the false leaders said something like: “We know that these false gods don’t really exist, and that these worship practices are meaningless, but they are important parts of our culture, and it is prudent to go along with the culture in order to get along with the culture.”

The Thyatiran Trade Guilds

Some scholars think that Jezebel led Christians of Thyatira to join the local trade guilds. Thyatira was the Asian center for trade guilds. There were associations for bakers, bronze-workers, wool-workers, linen-workers, leather-workers, garment-makers, cobblers, tanners, weavers, dyers (most notably purple cloth dyers), potters, and more.

In Thyatira, one had to join the trade guilds in order to practice one’s trade and to sell one’s products in public markets. Now, there is nothing wrong with trade guilds in and of themselves, and the main problem with having to join them was this: in the Asian province, the meetings of the trade guilds were held in temples and involved eating food sacrificed to local gods, most likely in Pergamum to the emperor, and most likely in Thyatira to the god Apollo. Such occasions often included fertility cult practices and ended in debauchery. It seems likely that the false prophets whom Jesus labeled as Balaam and Jezebel somehow made attending such rituals seem acceptable, even wise. The church at Thyatira allowed Jezebel’s false teachings to go unchallenged and left her free to mislead members. Jesus took a hard line against them on this matter.

What Are We to Do?

What are we to do when spiritual impurity comes into our midst?

It is our job to welcome everyone who wishes to learn about Jesus, and we have to expect that some people who come intending to follow Jesus will bring some baggage of spiritual and moral confusion with them. In most cases, we can gently, kindly, patiently, lovingly, and firmly help them straighten that out over time. It does not please Jesus when we become overly rigid, obsessed with searching out and destroying the weeds among the wheat. He wants us to keep spiritually confused people within hearing range of his gospel, which is where they need to be.

But sometimes we have to take strong stands. That happens when people are leading the church or its members or the people to whom it is in mission astray. I knew a small Lutheran Church that had a middle class family, managers of a local franchise of a major restaurant chain, join their church. The family waited until they thought they were solidly in with the congregation before they began to distribute literature about Lucifer whom they said was a misrepresented angel of light who could provide the church with extra power. This was not just a case of spiritual confusion on the part of the new members, but a deliberate and strategic attempt to gain a foothold for Satanic worship in a church. The spiritual leaders of the congregation did what Jesus blamed the leaders of the Pergamum and Thyatiran churches for not doing. I believe that Jesus was pleased with their strong stand.

My Annual Halloween Message

It is time for my annual Halloween message.

From the Christian standpoint, All Saints’ Day, November 1, is intended to honor Christian martyrs and other faithful, deceased Christians. There is nothing wrong with it.

But from the pagan standpoint, the night before All Saint’s Day (All Saints’ Eve or Halloween) marks the end of the growing season and the beginning of “the dark half of the year.” It celebrates the spiritual forces of darkness in a way that is completely contrary to Christian spirituality, ways that are related to ancient pagan cults. There is much wrong with that.

Like many of you, I grew up unaware that evil spiritual forces were real or to be taken seriously. Halloween was a time for the fun of pretending to be scared and the even greater fun of pretending to be scary. But I have since learned in Bible study and pastoral practice that Halloween is not so innocent.

What the Bible Says about the Occult

The Bible has much to say on the subject of the occult. Israel’s participation in autumn and spring fertility cults was utterly and consistently banned by God throughout the Old Testament. King Saul’s dealing with a medium—witch—spiritualist—whatever you call her--was completely contrary to God’s law and will (Leviticus 20:27; 1 Samuel 28). Examples of the seriousness of spiritual impurity may be found in the New Testament with the narratives of the sorcery of Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24), the magic of Elymas Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:6-12), the demonic fortunetelling of the slave girl (Acts 16:16-40), the magic books and crafts associated with the Ephesian temple of Artemis (Acts 19:18-41), and the listing of sorcery as among the works of the flesh that may prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). These matters are wrong because they do not fit with faith in the holy, loving, and sovereign God we know through Jesus Christ. The occult may masquerade as loving and helpful at first, but it turns out to be disturbing and destructive.

It Still Happens; We Need to Be Prepared

Many people in our culture have been destructively caught up in the world of the occult. At times it even creeps into the church. In the church I served in Indianapolis, while an elder was assuring me that we had no problems with the occult in Indiana, maybe in Arkansas where I had come from, but not in Indiana, a bright but troubled young man in the youth group was dabbling directly in Satanism. His parents had confidentially shared with me the troubling evidence. It is no accident that the young man also was considering suicide. Satan comes to destroy. Christians need to be prepared to rescue and to protect Satan’s targets.

Don't Be Killjoys

We need to search for a path that is at once sane and spiritually pure. We do our faith no favors if we make Christians look like paranoid killjoys. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the end of the harvest season, with using our artistic imaginations and creativity to design interesting costumes for a party.

Don't Be Satan's Accomplices

But there is something terribly wrong with granting the forces of darkness access to our children’s spirits or to our own. We need to take charge of our family’s costuming, decorating, party games, and so forth to see that we do not glorify things that are contrary to our faith. Once we have done that, we can with clear conscience have a great deal of seasonal fun. Finding the right balance calls for prayerful discernment that we may learn from Scripture and the Holy Spirit.

It is not just Halloween. In this culture, we are not infrequently exposed to spiritualities that are rooted in something other than Christian faith. God wants to guide and help us in ways that glorify his Son Jesus Christ. He has given us five senses and reason, plus the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the church. Beware of substitutes. Beware of astrology, Ouija boards, palm-reading, healing crystals, seances, psychics, spirit-guides, and so forth. They do not glorify Jesus Christ, and, although they may seem innocent at first, they tend to put us under the influence of the enemy. Jesus takes such matters seriously.

It Would Not Be Loving for Jesus to Stand by Helplessly

Forget your Sunday school image of a wimpy, sentimental Jesus. It would not be loving for Jesus to stand by helplessly while our spiritual impurities are poisoning our souls. Jesus acts strongly to cause us to question the spiritual origins and the spiritual consequences of our actions. He demands that we become spiritually pure.

What Jesus Promises to the Spiritually Pure; Claim the Promises

Jesus has glorious promises for the pure of heart: To those who adhere to a pure faith, he adds: 2:25 I do not lay on you any other burden. 25Only hold fast what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27and 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. 28And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

That is what we want Jesus to say to us, that we will share his rule over the nations and that we will receive the bright morning star, that is, eternal relationship with Jesus himself. If we have the all-penetrating light of Christ, we do not need to try to supplement it with the false lights of Satan. This is a call to spiritual purity. Do not let this call pass unanswered. Come to Jesus, to Him and to Him alone.