SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/5/2015 11:42 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Concern
Jesus has for Thyatira
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
2:20-23
Message of the
verses: “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.”
I mentioned in the Spiritual Diaries that I am doing on
the book of Ezekiel that some of the things that Ezekiel is telling the exiles
is very harsh, yet as always true, and it can be compared to these things that
Christ is writing to this church. The
difference is that Jesus was speaking to a physical church in the church age
where much more information has been given to them through what has happened to
Christ on the cross who paid for our sins whereas Ezekiel was writing and
speaking to the OT nation of Israel.
When we look at the problems that Jesus points out in
this church we can see that they were not external problems, but they were
internal problems. Smyrna had many
external problems that came from the Jews and also from those who worshiped
idols who wanted all the people in that city to do the same. One could say that Smyrna and Thyatira were
in some ways opposite in the problems that they faced. Persecution will cause the church to grow and
also get rid of the false believers as they won’t stay around to be persecuted
for something that they truly don’t believe in.
However when the church is not being persecuted then this gives a chance
for many unbelievers to sneak in and cause much trouble in the church which was
what was happening in Thyatira as we will see. Paul speaks of this when he was addressing
the leaders of the Ephesian church in Acts
20:29-30 “29 "I know that after my
departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse
things, to draw away the disciples after them.”
John MacArthur writes “The penetrating gaze of the Lord
of the church had discerned serious error, causing Him to warn ‘I have this against you.’ The use of the singular pronoun points this
admonition especially to the leader of the congregation. The indictment is ‘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.’ The sin,
apparently involving the majority of the Thyatira church’s members, was
twofold. First, they violated the
biblical teaching that women are not to be teachers or preachers in the church
(1 Tim. 2:12). That led them to tolerate
‘the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.’ They compounded their error of permitting her
to teach by allowing her to teach error.
As a result, Jesus declares, ‘she
teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of
immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.’”
Who was Jezebel?
Well we can be pretty sure that this was not the person’s name, but
someone who acted like Jezebel. Jezebel
was the infamous wife of King Ahab, and she was Satan’s agent to corrupt God’s
people. If memory serves me correctly
she introduced Baal worship in the Northern Kingdom of Israel. I can’t help but write about one of the
prophecies that had to do with her punishment that God was going to give her
because of what she did and that is that she would be spread out around the
land. She died from a fall from a high
building and a little while later they wanted to bury her but the dogs had
eaten her and only her skull was left. I
guess it was the dogs who spread her all around the country.
MacArthur says “Therefore the Lord branded her with the
symbolic name Jezebel. This NT Jezebel
did like the OT Jezebel did and that was she succeeded in leading Christ’s
bond-servants astray so that they would commit acts of immorality and they also
would eat things sacrificed to idols.
Remember when we looked at the letter from the Apostles to the Gentile
churches in Acts chapter 15 and they said the following “19 “Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are
turning to God from among the Gentiles, 20 but that we write to them that they
abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is
strangled and from blood (Acts 15:19-20.” This church must not have gotten that letter
or if they did they forgot about what it said.
MacArthur writes “The Bible teaches that true Christians
can fall into sexual immorality (cf. 1 Cor. 6:15-20) and idolatry (cf. 1 Cor.
10:21). But to lead others Christians
into false doctrine or immoral living is a very serious sin, one meriting the
most severe punishment. In Matthew
18:6-10, Jesus graphically described the serious consequences for those who
lead other believers into sin: ‘6 but whoever causes one of these little
ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy
millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 "Woe
to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that
stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block
comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot
causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you
to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast
into the eternal fire. 9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and
throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to
have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not despise
one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven
continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.’
“The ‘little ones who
believe’ in Christ are not physical children, but spiritual
children—believers. It is so serious to
lead another believer into sin that the Lord said death by drowning was a
better option. The imagery of maiming
oneself is language depicting the need for drastic action in dealing with sin.”
There is one more Scripture I want to add to this that
has something to do with what we are talking about and that comes from Romans
1:32 “and although they know the
ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they
not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
Our gracious Lord gave them time to repent, but they did
not do so and because they did not do so He said that He would “throw her on a
bed of sickness.” MacArthur writes “The
words of sickness are not part of the original Greek text, but were supplied as
a conjecture by the translators. In
light of the finality of Jezebel’s refusal to repent, it is more likely that
the bed refers to death and hell—the ultimate resting place for those who
refuse to repent.” Now not only for her
but for those who commit adultery with her for divine punishment will go to
them too and Jesus says that they will go into “great tribulation.”
MacArthur does not believe that this is the eschatological tribulation
period which will later be described in chapters 4-19, but distress or
trouble. He goes on to write “Since
these were the sinning Christians who had believed her lies, the Lord does not
threaten to send them to hell as He did the false prophetess. He promises to bring them severe
chastening—possibly even physical death unless they repent of her deeds.”
Jesus then mentions a third group who will face divine
judgment and these are those described with these words “I will kill her children with pestilence.” These were not her physical children, but
spiritual children. This church was
around forty years old and we see the second generation believers here and
severe punishment could come on them if they did not repent and turn from their
ways. Death could come to them like it
die with Ananias and Sapphira seen in Acts chapter five.
This may be hard to understand but it is true that Christ
twill receive glory for judging Jezebel and those who followed her. When He does judge them then all the churches
would know that He is the One who searches the minds and the hearts. It is only God can do this and so this is
just another of the many, many statements that confirms the deity of Jesus
Christ.
MacArthur writes “It is not known how many in that
congregation responded to Christ’s warning, but, tragically, the Thyatira
church as a whole apparently did not heed it.
History records that it fell prey to the Montanist heresy) a movement
led by a false prophet who claimed continuing revelation from God apart from
Scripture) and went out of existence by the end of the second century.”
Lastly we see these words of comfort from our Lord “I will give to each one of you according to
your deeds.” Each person would be
judged by their own deeds and not on the church as a whole group, and this is
something important to know.
I have written on what my feelings about works and the
Christians in earlier SD’s and the truth is that no one is saved by doing good
works, but good works demonstrate the fact that one is truly saved. I also believe that Ephesians 2:10 shows that
God has given us works to do even before the world began and we must be open to
the Holy Spirit for Him to show us what these works are and then have Him lead
us in doing these works to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Again remember what Peter said “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if
it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the
gospel of God?”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Learning more
about how my Lord watches over His church has given me greater incentive in
wanting to follow the leading of the Spirit to do the works that He has planned
for me to do.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul,
mind, and strength, and to better understand the love He has for me. To be a comfort to my friend whose wife is
now in heaven.
Memory verses for the
week: 2 Peter 2:8-10.
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
your practice these things, you will never stumble.
Answer to yesterday’ Bible
question: “Righteousness” (Romans 4:9).
Today’s Bible
question: “In Hebrews 2:16, Christ took
on himself the seed of what man?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/5/2015 1:29 PM
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