1600-5 Church

REVELATION 2:18-29

DEEPER STUDY # 1
(2:18) Thyatira: there are two historical facts that seem to have a bearing upon the Lord’s message to the church.
1. Thyatira was a frontier town—the least important city of the seven mentioned in Revelation. It lay on the road that
stretched through a long valley between Pergamos and Sardis. It had no defensible surroundings. Its citizens could only hope to
fight a delaying action for Pergamos. The church knew what it was to hope in One who could see all circumstances and who
could trample all enemies under His foot (v. 18, 26-27). The church knew what it was to hold fast (v.26-27).
2. Thyatira was renown for its trade guilds or unions. These guilds had two prime functions: business and social. The
city’s two major industries were dye and wool. These products plus the major road that ran through the city brought mer-
chants from all over the world. The very life of the community was centered in the trade guilds or unions. Their functions of-
ten involved a meal that was usually held within the temple precincts. The social included a sacrifice to the gods and fre-
quently ended up being a drunken immoral affair.
Note that the church knew the attraction of Jezebel’s seductive teaching. This probably refers to a woman within the
church who was teaching an idea that seemed to be very practical and reasonable. What was it? That believers could support
the social functions of their trade guilds or unions, even if the social function was worldly. Believers had to participate in the
community’s social and business functions in order to secure themselves and their jobs and in order to prosper. Lowering
Christian holiness and morality was necessary in order to guarantee social acceptance and the survival of one’s job or busi-
ness (v.20). It was felt that God would understand. But the church knew Him “who has eyes like a flame of fire” and sees all
(v.18-19). It knew Him who was to trample all enemies under His feet (v.18) and who was to search the hearts of all and re-
ward them according to their works (v.23). Note Thyatira is the city from which Lydia, the seller of purple, came (Acts
16:14, 40).

2
(2:18) Jesus Christ—Church: there is the speaker, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Note how Christ describes Himself to
the compromising church.
1. Christ declares that He is the Son of God. He is the One to whom a person owes his life. A person is not to give his
life over to the world nor to anyone else. He is to give his life to the Son of God, to Jesus Christ Himself. A person is...
• to believe Christ
• to follow Christ
• to obey Christ
• to become attached to Christ
• to love Christ
No person, especially a believer, is to compromise with the world. There is to be no attachment and no love for the world.
A person owes his life, all he is and has, to the Son of God.

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow me” (Lk.9:23).
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and breth-
ren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear
his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple” (Lk.14:26-27).
“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live” (Ro.8:13).
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal.5:24).
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 Jn.2:15-16).

2. Christ declares that His eyes are like a flame of fire. Christ sees all. He sees when a person is compromising, com-
promising in the dark, behind closed doors, in parked cars, in the offices and houses of the world. He sees all compromise
that lies, steals, cheats, commits immorality, becomes intoxicated, takes drugs. He sees all seductive teaching and misleading
of people within the church. He sees and hears and rewards all according to their works (v.23). And note: He also sees and
aids the faithful to stand fast when they are tempted (v.25).

“If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity” (Job 10:14).
“For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?” (Job 14:16).
“For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked
before me, saith the Lord God” (Jer.2:22).
“For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity
hid from mine eyes” (Jer.16:17).
“And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus
have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them”
(Ezk.11:5).
“And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own
doings have beset them about; they are before my face” (Hos.7:2).
“For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a
bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right” (Amos 5:12).
21
Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 | Page 8 | Page 9 | Page 10 | Page 11 | Page 12 | Page 13 | Page 14 | Page 15 | Page 16 | Page 17 | Page 18 | Page 19 | Page 20 | Page 21 | Page 22 | Page 23 | Page 24 | Page 25 | Page 26 | Page 27 | Page 28 | Page 29 | Page 30 | Page 31 | Page 32 | Page 33 | Page 34 | Page 35 | Page 36 | Page 37 | Page 38 | Page 39 | Page 40 | Page 41 | Page 42 | Page 43 | Page 44 | Page 45 | Page 46 | Page 47 | Page 48 | Page 49 | Page 50 | Page 51 | Page 52 | Page 53 | Page 54 | Page 55 | Page 56 | Page 57