SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/2/2015 3:41 PM
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction to the church at Thyatira
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
2:18-29
Message of the
verses: “18 "And to the angel
of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like
burnished bronze, says this: 19 ’I know your deeds, and your love and faith and
service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at
first. 20 ’But I have this against you, that you tolerate
the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My
bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things
sacrificed to idols. 21 ’I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to
repent of her immorality. 22 ’Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness,
and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 ’And I will kill her children with
pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I
will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 ’But I say to you, the rest who are in
Thyatira, who do not hold
this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call
them-I place no other burden on you. 25 ’Nevertheless what you have, hold fast
until I come. 26 ’He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE
NATIONS; 27 AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE
POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father;
28 and I will give him the morning star. 29 ’He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Let me make one point that came from my previous study on
the book of Revelation and that comes from verse 18 where we see these words “The Son of God,” and this is the only
time we see them in the entire book of Revelation. Perhaps it is because in the city of Thyatira
they worshiped the “sun god,” and Christ wanted to make sure that they knew He
is the Son of God and not the sun god.
We have talked about Church discipline in our past SD’s
but it is a very important subject to talk about for we find these words in
Matthew 18:15-18, words that Jesus spoke, and the first time we see the word
“church” in the New Testament: “15 ¶ “If your brother sins, go and show him
his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 "But if he does not listen to you, take
one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY
FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. 17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church;
and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile
and a tax collector. 18 "Truly I
say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever
you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”
Now in the 5th chapter of Acts we also see
that when a lie was told Peter accused Ananias, and his wife Sapphira of lying
to the Holy Spirit and they both died on the spot.
Next let us look at 1 Cor. 5:1-5 for another cause of
church discipline. “1 It is actually reported that there is
immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even
among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. 2 You have become
arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed
would be removed from your midst. 3 For I, on my part, though absent in body
but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as
though I were present. 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled,
and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 I have decided to deliver such a
one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved
in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Just a side note some believe that Paul speaks of this incident in his
second letter and if he did then the man repented of his sin.
We can give two reasons for church discipline; church
discipline is done to make sure that the church remains holy. It will call sinning believers back to living
a righteous live, and if they refuse to do that then when they are thrown out
of the church it will purge the church of their sinful influence.
John MacArthur writes “Despite the clear biblical
teaching to the contrary, churches throughout history have tolerated sin,
following a pattern like the Thyatiran congregation, whose members were
engaging in both spiritual and physical adultery. Through the insidious efforts of a false
teacher, those sins had become pervasive in the church at Thyatira. The letter Christ addressed to its members
was a sobering one, and marks a new phase in the letters to the seven
churches. Commentator Charles Erdman
offers this perspective on the place of this letter among the seven:
“The letter to the church in Thyatira begins the second
group of messages to the churches of Asia.
In the first group, the church of Ephesus was characterized by loyalty
to Christ which was lacking in love. In
the church of Smyrna loyalty was tested by fire. In the church of Pergamum the loyalty was
lacking in moral passion. Yet all three
churches were true to the faith, and had not yielded to the assaults of evil.
“In the case of the church at Thyatira, as of the
churches in Sardis and Laodicea, the situation was far more serious, Here not
merely a mall minority was indifferent, but large numbers had actually yielded
to the demoralizing influences of false teaching.” (The Revelation of John [Philadelphia:
Westminster, 1966], 56).”
On other note worth writing and that is that this was the
smallest city of the seven, yet it received the longest letter from our Lord.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Remembering the
holiness of the church is very important and something that should be
remembered by me each day as I live my life in a way that will please the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to benefit from the love that Christ has for me.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Peter 1:5-10.
5 Now for this very
reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and
in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and
in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and
in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness,
love. 8 For if these qualities are yours
and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9
For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten
his purification from his former sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about
His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you
will never stumble.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Aquila and Priscilla” (Acts
18:1-3).
Today’s Bible
question: “What is the first book in the
New Testament?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/2/2015 4:31 PM
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