“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).

If the church of Pergamum is an example of the compromising church that is taking the first kiss toward sin, then the church of Thyatira is the church that has completely gone to bed with idolatry and is suffering the life-threatening side effects of immorality. The longest letter written by Jesus to the seven churches was necessary to correct what could very well be the most corrupt of all the churches.

We are studying the seven churches of Revelation chapters two and three. In chapter one, we saw John the Apostle, exiled to the island of Patmos, in which he turned around to see Jesus in His unveiled, resplendent glory, with a message to seven distinct churches in the region of Asia Minor. These were seven literal churches, who needed to heed the words Jesus brought to them. But these words also apply to every church in history and to the greater body of Christ at large.

We’ve already heard Jesus speak to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum. And now we are going to hear Him speak to the church of Thyatira.

If you are taking note, there is a very helpful outline to follow along and better understand each of the seven churches. In each letter, we have been learning more about each distinct city, along with a characteristic of Christ from Revelation one. Jesus gives almost every church a commendation, a criticism and a correction, as well as a crown for the one who overcomes.

CITY

A few things about Thyatira are very important. First, it was the headquarters for many ancient guilds: the potters, tanners, weavers, robe makers and dyers guilds. It was actually the center of the dyeing industry (no pun intended). Remember Lydia, the seller of purple, in Philippi? She became Paul’s first convert in Europe. Acts 16:14 tells us that Lydia was from Thyatira. Apollo, the sun god, was primarily worshiped here.

It sounds pretty significant, but actually, it was the smallest and most unimportant city Jesus spoke to. The elder Pliny dismissed Thyatira with the almost contemptuous phrase, “Thyatira and other unimportant cities.” It is interesting that this is seemingly the most insignificant church of all the seven churches, but Jesus had the most to say to them.

How does Jesus address them? Look at the characteristic of Christ in verse 18.

CHARACTERISTIC OF CHRIST

“These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass.”

This is not the introduction the Thyatirans were hoping for. Jesus says He is the SON OF GOD, giving His authoritative place in the Trinity. Then, He refers to His eyes, which are like blazing fire, seeing all things we think are unseen. His feet are like burnished bronze, like a refining fire melting brass. When Jesus says there is fire in His eyes, He isn’t talking about a romantic stare with eyes of deep passion. It means eyes that see through the pretenses, eyes of judgment. Our culture doesn’t particularly like the idea of someone looking at us with judgment, but Jesus’ penetrating gaze is ultimately to heal, not condemn. He also has feet of brass or bronze. Bronze is always Biblically symbolic of judgment. It’s like when your parents used to call you by your first, middle and last name; you don’t know what is coming, but whatever it is, it’s gonna be bad, right?

So why is Jesus coming to judge this church? Look at the commendation of Jesus in verse 19.

COMMENDATION

“I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.”

1) Works:
This fellowship had hard workers that were known for their actions, not just their beliefs.

2) Love:
The church at Thyatira, in contrast to Ephesus, had love for many people. In fact, they are the only church that Jesus commended for having love. But this could prove to be a downfall.

3) Faith:
Their deeds and love were motivated by their faith in Christ.

4) Service:
This church was heavily involved in ministry and in serving others.

5) Patience:
They had patient endurance/steadfastness.

6) Doing More:
Their latter works exceeded the first. That means they were growing in their faith, not just resting in something God did for them in the past.

I look at the church today, and I wonder if the same commendation could be said of us: We have great deeds, love, faith, service, persevere. We are doing more now than ever. Someone may read Jesus’ words up until this point and stop there and think, “Ok, wow, that church should get a straight A!

But sadly, there is a criticism, and it is a scathing rebuke by Jesus that basically flunks this church.

CRITICISM

“Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And 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. 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 (Revelation 2:20-23).

Wow, that’s heavy. Sadly, the church in Thyatira had (if you can believe this!) too much love. (That is actually an incorrect statement, and I’ll clarify what I mean in a moment!) Ephesus was strong in doctrine but lacked love. Thyatira was strong in love but weak in doctrine. They weren’t willing to disagree with anyone about doctrinal heresies.

One person has said:

“It’s common for churches to be polarized in one of these two extremes. Either they will have full heads and empty hearts, or full hearts and empty minds. Either polarization is deadly. God demands both love and sound doctrine” (see 1 Timothy 1:5).

Table salt is a compound, a mixture of two elements: sodium and chloride. Both of these elements are poisonous by themselves. Sodium, an alkali metal, can be explosive if added to water, and chlorine is by itself a highly poisonous gas. If you ingest either sodium or chloride alone, you will die. But if you put them together properly, they become sodium chloride: common table salt.

So too, doctrine and love must be found together. One without the other can lead to a dangerous imbalance. But combined they provide flavor and health to the body of Christ.

Some would say this church was strong on love and weak on doctrine. But I question that exact definition. Because if we understand love correctly, would we really say they loved too much? I believe they bought into the lie that says you can love someone without truth. But love without truth isn’t love. It’s infatuation. It’s concession. It’s masqueraded hatred. Because if I truly love someone, I’m not going to withhold truth from them which would lead to their destruction. If I do, that means I’m indeed loving: I’m loving myself and my comfort, but I’m not truly loving the other person.

Jesus said the church in Thyatira TOLERATED Jezebel. Now obviously no one would name their daughter Jezebel (that’s like naming your kid Pilgrim or something:). No, Jezebel here is a symbolic name. She represents the despicable woman from 1 Kings. If you remember, king Ahab was basically the most evil and dirty and demonic king that ever reigned in Israel, and he married this evil woman Jezebel.

And as soon as he married her, Ahab began to serve and worship Baal, the false god that was constantly a thorn to Israel. Jezebel led people to commit sexual immorality and to offer their food to idols. And Ahab, toward the end of his life, developed a sudden thread of a conscience, after he heard what God had to say. You can read about it in 1 Kings 21. But as long as he was with Jezebel, he was tempted to sin gravely against the Lord.

Jesus said that Jezebel was committing sexual immorality and was teaching and seducing people to do the same. Someone reading this blog post may say, “Well I don’t struggle with that, so I’m good!” But before we think we are off the hook, Scripture calls idolatry the same thing as spiritual adultery, like an unfaithful wife leaving her husband. So Jezebel in a sense represents things in our life that lead to idolatry–to worshiping things instead of God.

Jesus says He is graciously giving her time to repent–like He gives all of us–like Ahab had time and actually DID repent. Yet this Jezebel in Thyatira didn’t change her ways, so He would cast her onto a sickbed. Notice that He says that people who commit adultery with her will also face consequences, in this case–dead children–meaning more consequences of their sin.

Jesus said that if they did not repent, they would eventually die. And notice He says all will know that, “I am He who searches the minds and hearts.” Literally that means the hearts and kidneys. To the ancient Jews, the heart was the seat of the intellect, and the kidneys were the centerpiece of emotion. He’s saying, “I know every thought and feeling you have” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Note with me that the perennial problem with the church of Thyatira was that they tolerated Jezebel’s doctrine. Ephesus was commended, back in verse two, for not “tolerating wicked men, but testing those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.” Here Thyatira is criticized for allowing sinful heresy into the body of Christ.

Though Thyatira would get an A+ on a lot of areas, there was one area that made them flunk the exam.

In a word, the church was tolerant. First, there is:

1. A desire to fit in with the culture

How does a church that is solid suddenly become tolerant of heresy and sin? It isn’t always sudden, actually. We are growing up in a culture that embraces POSTMODERNISM. What is postmodernism? It is a whole system that basically teaches that we can’t really know anything for sure, that truth changes, and as long as you believe it personally enough, it is true for you. In other words, there is no absolute right and wrong, and if you can’t allow me to believe what I believe, you are racist or a bigot, and you are intolerant.

Allan Bloom said:

“Openness – and the relativism that makes it the only plausible stance in the face of various claims to truth and various ways of life and kinds of human beings — is the great insight of our times. The true believer is the real danger. The study of history and of culture teaches that all the world was mad in the past; men always thought they were right, and that led to wars, persecutions, slavery, xenophobia, racism and chauvinism. The point is not to correct the mistakes and really be right; rather it is not to think you are right at all.”

I’ve heard this same idea echoed in a million and one college dorms, Starbucks, news reports and community groups. It is the issue of absolute truth and tolerance. So we have to desire to please Jesus, not just fit in with the culture around us.

2. A failure to rightly define sin

We no longer call sin what it is: lawlessness, rebellion, treason, spiritual adultery, breaking God’s laws and commands. We start wanting to use new words that don’t sound so offensive. So we stop saying, “sin” and start saying “struggle,” or “disease,” or “disorder.” While we’re at it, we start coming up with new definitions of other words, even the word “tolerance.”

In D.A. Carson’s book The Intolerance of Tolerance, he brings us back to the original word “tolerance” as it was defined in the dictionary. You could say we now have “Old Tolerance and New Tolerance.”

“The traditional/modernist use of tolerance: ‘I may disagree with you, but I insist on your right to articulate your opinion, no matter how stupid or ignorant I think it is.'”

But New Tolerance is very different. The United Nations Declaration of Principles of Tolerance in 1995 asserts: “Tolerance involves the rejection of dogmatism and absolutism.”

Does this mean that we have no right to hold conflicting things to be dogmatically true? The national Lambda Chi Alpha position says,“The definition of the new tolerance is that every individual’s beliefs, lifestyle, and perception of truth claims are equal. There is no hierarchy of truth; your beliefs, and my beliefs are equal and all truth is relative.”

Hint: by definition that means that “tolerant” people are intolerant of Christians.

3. Forsaking absolute truth for relativism

Thankfully Christians still believe in absolute truth, right? Actually, I was discouraged to see these sad statistics that were just released recently by the Barna Research group:

Only 44 percent of born again adults are certain that absolute, moral truth exists. Barna also discovered that only 9 percent of born again teenagers believe in absolute, moral truth.

D.A. Carson, again, explains that:

“Now tolerance means that you must not say that anybody is wrong. You have to say that all positions are equally valid.”

4. Moving close handed issues into open handed ones

The Christian believes there are open handed issues and close handed. And we must never, EVER begin to open the close handed issues for debate.

This begins with questioning a foundational, Biblical doctrine. Then the questions get considered, and suppositions get formed. Then those turn into arguments to defend. And before you know it, we have a full blown heresy. I like what C.S. Lewis said,

“An open mind, in questions that are not ultimate, is useful. But an open mind about ultimate foundations either of Theoretical or Practical reason is idiocy. If a man’s mind is open on these things, let his mouth at least be shut.”

Many scholars believe Jezebel was encouraging the church to join the trade guilds of Thyatira, even though that would mean giving honor to the guild god or goddess which included participating in the festivals where they sacrificed food to idols. She wanted the church to embrace the world even if that meant fully compromising your beliefs to reach people with “love.”

5. Failing to take a stand for truth

What does the Bible say about how we should react to heresy?

Here are a few verses:

“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith” (1 Timothy 6:20-21, NIV).

“Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly” (1 Timothy 4:7, NIV).

“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced…rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:10-13, NIV).

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9, NIV).

Did you catch how Paul instructs us to do with heretic doctrine and those who teach it? Turn away, have nothing to do with, silence them, rebuke them, avoid their teaching. Kind of the opposite of what the word “tolerate” means, doesn’t it?

I believe we are in danger of doing the same thing: tolerating a bunch of ridiculous beliefs, because, like Thyatira, we are too scared or too “loving” to speak the truth. We are afraid we will lose our friends or the argument, so we sit idly by and allow ignorance and even heresy to infiltrate the church.

Martin Luther King Jr. said it best when he said:

“There comes a time when silence is betrayal…Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

I believe we live in a day when the church tolerates Jezebel.

May we boldly stand for truth: absolute truth. Keeping the close hand closed. Rightly defining tolerance. Standing up for truth even when we stand out compared to our culture.

CORRECTION

“Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.”

Jesus called Jezebel’s practice a “doctrine.” He described it as “the depths of Satan.” What does that mean?

Smyrna was attacked by a synagogue of Satan. Pergamum dwelt where the throne of Satan existed, but those churches had resisted Satan. Thyatira, on the other hand, had fallen into the deep things of Satan. Notice in verse 24 that Jesus said this to “the rest.” There were some in the church that wouldn’t put up with false teaching, and Jesus said,”I put on you no other burden.” That should be our response. Don’t put up with heresy.

“But hold fast what you have till I come.”

I love that! Jesus doesn’t give us any big command or burden; He just says, “Whatever you already have, just hang onto it; I won’t lay some big heavy command on you.” I think sometimes we think God has this huge laundry list of DO’s and DON’Ts for us, and we just have to barely hang on by a thread, trying to impress Him. He says to the weary soldier, “just hold the line, don’t let go; I’m not laying more weight on you than what you already have.”

Some reading this blog may barely be hanging on. You feel like giving up or giving in. And Jesus says, “Just hold fast what you have. Don’t let go. I’m coming quickly.”

For those in Thyatira with sound theology and robust doxology; nothing more is needed! Just hang on to truth and your love of Jesus! Now notice the reward.

CROWN

“And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels—as I also have received from My Father.”

Here Jesus references Psalm 2, another reference to judgment. In Thyatira there was a big pottery guild, and Jesus is saying He will give us authority, like He was given from the Father to rule over the nations. We don’t need to be afraid that we are some minority that is on the losing team. We have been given authority, and truth will win in the end! Jesus has all authority, and those who oppose His authority will be crushed in judgment.

“And I will give him the morning star.”

Satan is known as the morning star in one reference, and Jesus is saying, “This world might think it has the brightness and the beauty, but I will give the overcomers the true morning star, the judgment AND the illumination, MYSELF.” Jesus is referring to Himself, as a bright star of the morning.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’

The name “Thyatira” means sacrifice or sacrificial offering. Isn’t that interesting? They as a church were willing to sacrifice their faith on the altar of compromise. And what began as a small compromise into a little false doctrine quickly became them sacrificing truth in order to accept others. Abandoning what is true for what is convenient.

In 1979 Arthur Leff, a Yale law professor spoke at Duke University and expressed how torn human beings are over this issue of absolute truth and the desire for it and the hatred we feel for it.

Here’s what HE said:

“I want to believe—and so do you—in a complete, transcendent, and immanent set of propositions about right and wrong, findable rules that authoritatively and unambiguously direct us how to live righteously. I also want to believe—and so do you—in no such thing, but rather that we are wholly free, not only to choose for ourselves what we ought to do, but to decide for ourselves, individually and as a species, what we ought to be. What we want, Heaven help us, is simultaneously to be perfectly ruled and perfectly free, that is, at the same time to discover the right and the good and to create it.”

The reality is, truth is found not in a principle but in a person. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Just minutes before being crucified, Jesus said to Pilate in John 18:37-38:

“‘For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’”

Imagine that: The One who had the words of truth, better than that, was filled with the Spirit of truth, better than that, embodied the belt of truth, the One, unlike Moses through whom the law came, who was incarnate in the world bearing grace and truth, better than that, He WAS the Truth, was standing right in front of Pilate, who in a single question dismissed the discussion with a wave of his hand.

There aren’t multiple ways to God. There is only one way, and His name is Jesus. He is the door. He is the bright morning star. Rather than sacrifice truth on the altar of acceptance like this church, Jesus was instead betrayed, cast out and nailed to a tree. He made the ultimate sacrifice, so that we could know the truth.

Do you know Him? Do you have ears to hear Him?

Underneath this large oak tree in my yard there is not much grass growing because of the leaves that fall in the autumn, but for the last few years, a large percentage of weeds would grow quickly and provide green ground cover during the spring and summer. And thankfully, they were green. They appeared to the naked eye as grass. But in actuality, they were weeds.

Some friends of ours happened to have some extra sod, and they offered it to us. We found a patch by our porch that would work perfect with some sod, so we laid a bunch of new grass down and began watering it and maintaining it. It was green, healthy and beautiful. At the same time, these ground cover weeds under the oak tree were spreading everywhere. Eventually, they found their way into our sod–the good grass.

At that point, I had a decision to make. Do I take the time to pull up the weeds and protect the grass? Do I put the effort and attention needed into removing what is unhealthy in order to preserve what is healthy? The answer was yes and no. Yes, I began to remove weeds, but no, not fast enough and not long enough. The weeds eventually took over and snuffed out the good grass.

That’s what happened to the church in Thyatira. Church history records that by the second century, they were no longer in existence. They didn’t repent. They didn’t heed these words.

Is there an area in your life–which seems maybe small or insignificant–perhaps it is doctrinal or practical, or on the border of sinful–and you aren’t paying attention to it? Like Pergamum, are you beginning to compromise your beliefs or your behavior?

We can keep tolerating sin, but one day, its destructive effects will take hold of us. Like carcinogenic toxins, sin will slowly kill us, one day at a time, one bad decision after another. My prayer is that we will stand for truth, keep His word to the end and be the church that is known for speaking the truth in love.

^{Enjoy the complete #modernchurch series!}

I was surprised by the following true story:

The location: Pearl Harbor The date: Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. Three hundred and fifty-three Japanese airplanes began swarming all around the harbor. Within a couple of hours, America lost eight battleships, six major airfields, almost all planes and 2,400 men. What began at 7:50 a.m. was supposedly a surprised attack. But these are the startling facts:

That morning, 50 minutes earlier, at 7 a.m., while the Japanese warplanes were 137 miles (50 minutes) away, two US soldiers on a small radar station in the Pacific scanned the screen and saw dots appearing, until the whole screen was filled. These soldiers notified their youthful supervisor, a lieutenant. No other officer was around, that being a Sunday.

The lieutenant thought these must be planes from California, and without another thought, said these crucial words: “Don’t worry about it.” There would have been time to scramble the planes at Pearl Harbor, prepare the battleships and shelter the men, but this lieutenant, at the most responsible moment of his career, failed the nation with the words, “Don’t worry about it.”

In our own lives, is there something that could wreak havoc–spiritual destruction in your life–and yet you dismiss it away, thinking, “Oh, don’t worry about it! It’s just a ‘little’ sin”? It is nothing big.” That is what we call spiritual compromise. Pearl Harbor may have been prevented if someone took the warning seriously. But because they didn’t, they said, “Don’t worry about it,” and numerous lives were lost.

Many of us may have an area of spiritual compromise in our lives as we read.

Compromise. We hear that word in politics, and we think that it is a good thing. Recently, we had a limited federal government shutdown. I heard media personalities asking the question: “When will the Republicans and Democrats reach a compromise on DACA, so we can move forward together?” Compromise: It sounds like a good thing, at least in politics. What about compromise in relationships? Compromise in marriage is not only important, it is necessary. Think of married couples going shopping together, and you’ll understand the importance of compromise.

My wife Jenn tends to shop in slow motion, like she’s leading a group of children on a field trip. There is very little attention span, lots of bathroom and snack breaks, and generally you move about .5 miles an hour. On the other hand, in a mall I’m more like a Navy Seal team on a rescue op. It’s an in-and-out mission–we’ve got to make the clothing extraction. I’m running in, almost at a frantic pace, checking the sign to find the location of the store I need; then I’m mapping out the most strategic route to find the fastest shortcut, and I’m in the store and out with my jeans in about 18 seconds, while the cashier is thinking, “Did you see something?”

So when my wife and I go shopping, we have to use this word “compromise.” I have to slow down, and simultaneously, Jenn has to speed up. We both compromise our strategies and generally enjoy our life and marriage much better that way (plus Amazon doesn’t hurt…) In politics, relationships and business agreements, compromise is important. But in our moral and spiritual lives, when we use the word “compromise,” this is a very negative thing.

Tony Evans said:

“Compromise is the cancer of the church, and we must rid Christ’s body of it. While Christians can compromise on preferences, they cannot compromise on principles. We can’t be one way on Sunday and another on Monday. This is a major problem among Christians in America today. We don’t take a stand. We don’t keep our standards. We merely shift to satisfy society.”

There was a church in Asia Minor that was beginning to take those slippery steps. Today we’re going to study the church that met in the city of Pergamum. John the Apostle was on the island of Patmos and turned around to see Jesus in all of His unveiled glory. And Jesus said, “write these things down” and then spoke a word for seven churches in Asia Minor. With each of these messages, we see the following outline:

. A City

. A Characteristic of Christ

. A Commendation

. A Criticism

. A Correction

. A Crown

The City of Pergamum

Pergamum was a religious epicenter. We’ve already looked at Smyrna–the commercial center–and Ephesus–the political center– but then there was Pergamum, the religious center. It was quite an impressive city, built high on a mountain and a very strong tower of defense. In fact, the name, “Pergamum,” means “citadel,” or “lifted up” or “high.” It had beautiful views of the country around it. Usually high places invoke a sense of wonder, awe and meditation, and the religious cults took advantage of that fact. Pergamum can also mean “marriage.” The church there was married to Christ but were allowing spiritually adulterous thoughts to creep in.

As soon as you walked into the city, you would see the imposing temple to Athena, right inside the city gate. Then there was the great temple of Caesar Augustus and also Hadrian’s temple.You look a little farther and oh, there’s the large altar to Zeus with an idol on it near the king’s palace. If that wasn’t enough, look along the side of the mountain, and you’re sure to see the temple of Dionysius, the goat god of wine. He is depicted with horns, but his upper part as a man and his lower part as a goat, with cloven feet and a tail.

When you think of the spiritual oppression with all of these temples all gathered in the same vicinity, it is no wonder that Jesus refers to this area as “the throne of Satan.” The word “parchment” derives its name from Pergamum. In fact, the people there so appreciated books, they had a library of 200,000 books second only to the library of Alexandria. Though they were immersed with piles of literature and parchment, only one divine paragraph was needed to heal them!

Characteristic of Christ

“These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword.” Interestingly, Jesus refers to the church that is beginning to compromise back to His mouth, where the sharp, two-edged sword was extending out from. When you think of “sword” in the Bible (mentioned 404 times), in the New Testament, it is almost exclusively–though not entirely–used in the context of the Bible/the Scriptures/the Word of God.

Commendation

“I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

First, Jesus says “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.” What does “Satan’s throne” mean?

If you polled the average person and asked them, “Where is Satan’s throne?” They would invariably, unequivocally say “HELL.” Or Las Vegas or maybe even Washington, D.C. But in John’s day, Jesus would say it was in Pergamum. “Satan’s throne” was most likely referring to the large throne of Zeus, which was located in Pergamum. Interestingly, this throne was discovered by the German engineer, Carl Humann. Humann excavated the throne stone by stone and took it to Berlin, where it was reassembled in placed in the Museum of Pergamon. In 1930 the museum opened with the throne as its centerpiece. Eventually, the altar caught the eye of Albert Speer, the new chief architect for the Nazi Party. Germany’s new chancellor, Adolf Hitler, had commissioned him to design the parade grounds for the party rallies in Nuremberg. For inspiration, Speer turned to the Pergamon Altar.

Can you imagine living in the midst of “sin city?” Having the throne of Satan right down the street from you? You may not have a literal throne that you can point out, but we still dwell in the midst of a sinful people. Jesus knows that where we live in this world can prove difficult. He who dwelt in the dregs of Nazareth understands the difficulty of living in the world but not of it.

Notice the second commendation:

“You Hold Fast to My Name”—they weren’t selling out, as a whole. They remained true to God, even though they were right there in the midst of incredible evil. The verb “hold fast” (krateo) means to “grasp forcibly,” or in this figurative use, “to remain firm.” In Revelation 2:1, Jesus “holds the seven stars” as He watches over the churches and here the believers “hold fast” to His name. “My name” points to their adherence to the deity of Christ. In the midst of a pluralist society, much of the church refused to bow the knee to the false gods among them.

Willing to die for the faith—they were even willing to die for what they believed, and Jesus points out an example: Antipas—Jesus’ faithful martyr—whose name means “against all.” Antipas was the first recorded martyr of Asia. Some people believe he was slowly roasted to death in a bronze kettle during the reign of Domitian. His name represented the convictions he lived by: He would not give in nor compromise. Even if he had to be “against all,” he would not bend the knee to spiritual compromise.

So you have this great positive report from the Lord Jesus Christ. You have a wicked city but a faithful group who were willing to DIE for what they knew was right. So what’s the deal? Is that all Jesus had to say to them? No, there’s still a problem. Look at the criticism in verse 14.

Criticism

“But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate” (Revelation 2:14-15).

What? Not the high and lifted up citadel of Pergamum! I thought they had it all together! Perhaps at first glance. They were in the midst of evil all around them, and they were willing to die for their beliefs. But it was their behavior that was bringing them down.

Jesus mentions the doctrine of Balaam. Balaam was a prophet that Balak, the king of Moab, wanted to hire to pronounce judgment on Israel. But Balaam opened his mouth to speak for the Lord, and all he could do was utter blessings on Israel. And Balak said, “No, please don’t do that! Utter curses, not blessings.” And Balaam said, “Well, there’s no way I could do that. Even if you were to give me say, $10,000 in cash and five wives; I could never do that!”

So then again, he pronounced blessings, instead of curses, and Balak says, “No, utter curses, not blessings,” and this happened three times. Balaam said, “Hey, I said, ‘even if you offered me $10,000 in cash, I still couldn’t do that!” Then the very next verse we see that suddenly the children of Israel began to get involved in sexual immorality with the Moabite women, and God sent a plague and 24,000 of them died. What happened? Elsewhere in Numbers it says that Balaam gave them that advice.

It doesn’t say this in Numbers, but we can read between the lines. It seems Balaam was hinting at something with the money suggestion, and said, “Look, I simply can’t utter curses, but I do know these Israelite guys really well. They seem to be tempted easily by the seductive Moabite women. So bring a bunch of the women around to persuade the men to commit sexual immorality, and then God Himself will curse them; and we’re all happy: I get paid. I don’t have to lie when I prophesy. You get your curses, and we all go home happy!”

Balaam was the prophet for profit. His advice led the Israelites to compromise–and sin–and thus, his counsel was successful. Balaam’s counsel became the prototype for all false teachers.

Peter said this about false teachers:

2 Peter 2:15-19 (ESV)

“Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”

So what is the doctrine of Balaam? It is to compromise what we know is morally upright for what is expedient. It’s to put stumbling blocks in front of people, things that will trip up our walk with God. For the church of Pergamum, it began by eating food sacrificed to idols; and then eventually, the slippery slope led to spiritual idolatry.

What about the teaching of the Nicolaitans? As we learned with the church of Ephesus, the Nicolaitans were followers of Nicolas, who apparently taught that you were free in Christ to do whatever you wanted to, with no consequences, a license to sin. There was a separating of the leadership and the laity–a hierarchy of superiority versus the everyday man or woman.

So the combined hybrid teaching of both Balaam and the Nicolaitans was that you could compromise your behavior and mix in what the world is doing, yet at the same time, have the reputation of being a lofty, high stronghold of authority and religious superiority.

What a sad indictment on the church. There may be some among the visible church that have compromised what they know is wrong, because either they thought they were free to do it, or there were no consequences, or because it looked fun or exciting, yet at the same time, maintaining the guise of spiritual superiority toward others.

The church of Smyrna was unbending toward compromise, even under intense persecution, but the church of Pergamum wanted to maintain their lofty standing while still allowing sin to creep in.

One official in India purportedly said off the record one time: “Don’t persecute the Christians, or they will become strong and spread. Instead, wherever you find Christians grouped together, build cinemas, drinking halls, night clubs and gambling dens, and they will destroy themselves.”

All too often this is the case. We worship Jesus on Sunday morning and put on the Christian radio station posture, and then go home and worship pleasure, or money, or success or self the rest of the week.

Spiritual compromise isn’t choosing other gods to worship INSTEAD of Jesus. It’s trying to include other gods along with our worship of Jesus.

Plenty of people are bowing down to other idols. The problem is when Christians purport to bow down to Jesus and then also choose to bow down to other gods. It’s compromise. It’s the way of Balaam.

D.L. Moody said: “Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water; but if the water gets into the ship, she goes to the bottom. So Christians may live in the world; but if the world gets into them, they sink.”

Compromise says, “I know I shouldn’t, but why not?” Compromise chooses to either ignore or belittle judgment that comes upon wrong behavior. You could define spiritual compromise as: Accepting a lower moral standard to live by that lessens or deadens your spiritual effectiveness. In spiritual compromise, you begin by taking a step, then another step and then another step in the direction away from your convictions and eventually toward destruction.

Sin begins in the mind, develops in the heart and comes to fruition in the body. All sin can be traced back to an initial moment of compromise.

What if the world decided to compromise one percent. That’s all? Here’s what would occur:

Verizon would have no cell service for 14 minutes each day. One point seven million pieces of first class mail lost each day. Thirty-five thousand newborn babies dropped by doctors or nurses each year. Two hundred thousand people getting the wrong drug prescriptions each year. Unsafe drinking water three days a year. Three misspelled words on the average page of type. Two million people would die from food poisoning each year. In fact, there are:

Five Slippery Steps to Spiritual Compromise:

1. A failure to purpose in our hearts ahead of time to do the right thing.

2. Underestimating evil (including the failure to recognize temptation).

3. Rationalizing.

4. A failure to consider the costly consequences.

5. A sudden, deliberate choice to give in to sin.

The best example of this sort of compromise in the Bible is Lot. Lot got into an argument with Abraham over the land because they had their own sheep, cattle and farmers, and the land wasn’t big enough for them both. So Abraham was a godly man and said, “Look out onto the land, and choose where you want to dwell.” And Lot looked, and Genesis says that he saw that the land was fertile and pleasing to the eye, so he set out for that land. What land was that? The plains near Sodom and Gomorrah. So Lot went out. You would think he would have stayed as far away from Sodom and Gomorrah as possible. But his eye was appeased, and so often it is with our eyes that we see something we want; and we head toward it. We didn’t actually do anything wrong yet, but we are taking a step closer to it, putting ourselves in danger and harm’s way. So his tents were pitched TOWARD Sodom.

The next we read about Lot, he was IN Sodom. Not only IN sin, but at the city gate, in the most prominent place, fully engulfed in culture, politics and all that Sodom had to offer. He couldn’t get out easily. His family thought he was joking when he tried to convince them to leave. That is the most saddening: Your compromise will usually affect others.

Correction

“Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”

What does that mean? If you look back in verse 12, Jesus wanted to identify Himself to this church as, “He who has the sharp, double-edged sword.” The sword is coming out of Jesus’ MOUTH. This kind of sword is used in judgment. If you do not repent of your compromise, Jesus says, “I will come with judgment and My Word, and you will reap what you have sown.” God is offering the church of Pergamum (and you and I) a chance to repent of our compromise. But not only that, He also offers a crown–a reward for those who overcome.

Crown

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it”’ (Revelation 2:17).

Manna is the bread, the supernatural spiritual sustenance that God alone provided miraculously. And Jesus promises this, along with a white stone. This stone, also called “Tessera,” had many usages in the ancient Near East

(1) It could be used for a ticket to special banquets.

(2) It could be used to vote for acquittal by a jury.

(3) It could be used as a symbol of victory for an athlete.

(4) It could be used to show the freedom of a slave.

Notice that all of these represent something amazing about Jesus.

. Jesus provides Access to a banquet feast.

. Jesus brings Acquittal from the penalty of sin.

. Jesus brings Victory over sin and death.

. Jesus has Redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Many ladies had on their left hand a very expensive and beautiful stone. It was given to them by someone who loved them deeply, and probably given sacrificially, at great cost. That stone represented a relationship with someone. Amazingly, Jesus offers us a white stone, and on that stone is a name written which no one will know except the one who receives it. Jesus desires a marriage relationship without compromise-with intimacy and fellowship-with provision and an identity found in Him. And it is promised to those who overcome.

Are you already heading down the slippery slope of spiritual compromise? You may need to purpose in your heart not to sin. Or you may need to start heeding the warnings around you and start taking serious what is tempting you. Or perhaps you may need to put safeguards in place to protect your heart and mind. Perhaps someone reading this needs to repent and confess that they have given in to compromise.

Dr. Laurence M. Gould, president emeritus of Carleton College, once said this:

“I do not believe the greatest threat to our future is from bombs or guided missiles. I don’t think our civilization will end that way. I think it will die when we no longer care. Arnold Toynbee has pointed out that 19 of 21 civilizations have died from within and not by conquest from without. There were no bands playing and flags waving when these civilizations decayed. It happened slowly, in the quiet and in the dark when no one was aware.”

Does that describe you? Is there spiritual apathy that has crept in to your heart; and like the lieutenant at Pearl Harbor, you find yourself saying, “Don’t worry about it”? Are you in need of the Word of God to come and speak to your divided heart? My prayer is that you will hear the Word of God, and you will heed the Word of God. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying…” ( Revelation 2:7).

^{Enjoy “Lessons from the Church of Smyrna” & “A Letter to the Modern Church” by Pilgrim in this series.}

Enjoy “A Letter to the Modern Church” by Pilgrim Benham in this series on the seven churches in Revelation.

….

The theologian Michael Stipe (the lead singer of R.E.M.) said it best, “Everybody Hurts.” Let’s just face it: Life is full of heartache. In my short life, I’ve seen a lot of pain and suffering: A member of my family was sexually, physically and emotionally abused as a child and teen. My little sister, born with a cleft pallet in her lip, blind and deaf, with extra fingers and toes and lots of physical deformities, only lived six short months before going to be with Jesus. My other sister lost her full academic scholarship at a prestigious arts school because of a simple mistake on the tuition scholarship paperwork. A family member forgot who people were with the symptoms of dementia and eventually passed away. Our son was born premature three weeks early from a placental abruption and my wife was mere seconds from hemorrhaging to death. Just in the last five years, our family has been the victim of a hit and run; another time we hydroplaned and crashed our car on a wet bridge over a river on the interstate; and just recently, we’ve had financial setbacks that have caused our family to have to seek the Lord and wonder how we are going to pay some bills.

Think about the tragedy in your own life: People who have let you down, friends who you thought were friends who stabbed you in the back, that promotion you deserved was given to someone else, the car that died on the freeway and left you stranded, your bank account that was literally down to dollars, and you didn’t know what you would eat next or losing that loved one tragically before you felt it was their time to go.

As you read this and nod your head, let me encourage you that you’re among friends. Life is full of suffering. In fact, suffering is inevitable.

One person said:

“Christians, of course, use spiritual language to minimize suffering constantly, even their own. The need to exonerate God in the midst of tragedy–even to shove Bible verses in a person’s face can be just as harmful as saying something actively discouraging, as if God were small enough to be invalidated by our individual suffering.”

What should our reaction be to pain and difficulty? We learn much by looking at the church of Smyrna, spoken to by Jesus in Revelation 2:8-11. In this section of Scripture, Jesus is speaking to John the Apostle, who has been exiled on the island of Patmos. Jesus has come to reveal Himself–literally to unveil Himself–thus the book is called not “Revelations” but “Revelation” for it is one singular revelation of the person and work of Jesus over and in His creation. Jesus has a message for seven distinct churches in Asia Minor. These were literal churches with a congregation and pastors, and so Jesus has a word for them. But this is also applicable to all churches, to every church and even to us today almost 2,000 years later. For each of the churches that Jesus addresses, we see He seems to emphasize a City, a Characteristic of Christ, a Commendation, a Criticism, a Correction and a Crown.

The City of Smyrna

The city of Smyrna was located around 35 miles north of Ephesus and was established by Alexander the Great. Of the seven cities Jesus addresses, Smyrna was considered by far to be the most beautiful. It was known as “the glory of Asia” and was a very beautiful and important city in the Roman empire, thought by many to be the birthplace of Homer, where a temple was erected in his honor.

What is interesting is that “Smyrna” is the Greek word for “myrrh” which means “bitter.” Myrrh is a small fruit just larger than a pea, and it’s known for the fragrance it gives off when it is crushed. Myrrh was one of the three gifts that the Magi brought to baby Jesus, along with gold and frankincense.

Now at first glance, myrrh would have seemed a little random as a present at a baby shower. Gold would be the appropriate gift for the Messiah King, a gift appropriate for royalty. Incense as well: a wick that would be lit and would give off fragrant smoke in the presence of the king–a picture of the priesthood. But myrrh might have seemed a little random. Myrrh was one of the ingredients used in the anointing oil that the priests used in the temples. It may have seemed completely pointless as a gift for Jesus, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Magi gave the myrrh as a symbolic gift, a gift that really was appropriate for Jesus: being crushed and giving off an aroma that would be pleasing to the world.

How significant! Smyrna was where these believers were feeling the pressure, the squeeze of persecution all around. Many of them would be crushed, but Jesus assures them that their sacrifice is a fragrant offering to Him.

The Characteristic of Christ

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life.”

Here, Jesus chooses to describe Himself as “The First and the Last,” a reference to chapter one where He called Himself the Alpha and the Omega. The Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and the Omega is the last letter. In English, you could hear Jesus saying, “I am the A, and I am the Z.”

Now I’m not a cyclist, but I have been cycling quite a few times and always seemed to regret it! When cycling in a group, you need a strong front rider who can see what is up ahead and warn those behind of the coming rocks and bumps and hazards in the road, set the pace and take the brunt of the wind resistance. But, the person in the “caboose” position also needs to be an experienced rider, who can speak encouragement to those getting weary and help them stay in the race. In like manner, Jesus is ahead of us saying, “I’ve been through suffering and death, and I’ll lead you along the way,” but He’s also behind us saying, “You can do it; don’t give up!”

Not only is He the First and the Last, but He also identifies Himself as the One, “who was dead and came to life.” What an encouragement for people facing persecution, suffering, pain and even martyrdom! To know that Jesus died and came to life again gives us incredible comfort when we face pain in life.

Smyrna had been a Greek colony as far back as 1,000 B.C. Around 600 B.C. it was invaded and destroyed by the Lydeans, and for 400 years there was no city there at all. Just ruins. Then around 200 B.C. Lysimachus had it rebuilt as a planned and unified city. It was built with streets that were broad, straight, sweeping and beautifully paved. The city had experienced death and had literally been brought back to life.

The Commendation & Criticism

Jesus’s commendation is significant because He has no criticism!!! Verse nine says:

“I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Jesus said He knew four things about them:

1. Jesus knows their performance.

“I know your works:” That is the same phrase Jesus used when speaking to the church of Ephesus. The church in Smyrna likewise was working as unto the Lord, and Jesus recognized their ministry.

Some of us from time to time may wonder if the Lord knows our works. Some of us have been serving Him for decades, and we don’t want the recognition from man or from the church; but we just wonder, “Does the Lord see or know or care what I’m doing for His kingdom?”

I love this encouragement from Hebrews 6:10:

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

God sees. God knows. God won’t overlook it.

2. Jesus knows their pain.

The Greek word can be translated: tribulation, affliction, trouble, anguish, persecution, burdens. I would add the word pain. Jesus is saying, “I know you look afflicted and poor, but I consider you rich!”

Why does it seem to take suffering to remind us that God is sovereign and will work everything out for our good and His glory?

Business leader Allan Emery tells of accompanying his friend and mentor to visit a hospitalized employee. The patient lay very still, his eyes conveying anguish. His operation had taken eight hours, and recovery would be long and uncertain.

“Alex,” said Ken quietly, “You know I have had a number of serious operations. I know the pain of trying to talk. I think I know the questions you are asking. There are two verses I want to give you—Genesis 42:36 (“All these things are against me”) and Romans 8:28 (“All things work together for good to those who love God”). We have the option of these two attitudes. We need the perspective of the latter.”

David Jeremiah adds, “The choice is this: to be beat up or to be upbeat. The perspective you choose will color your life completely and thoroughly—will it be gentle tones of grace and providence, or harsh slashes of despair and emptiness?

We need to have a Biblical view of suffering. Just consider myrrh, of which the city of Smyrna was named after. When you anoint something, you put something over it. You anoint someone with oil, it means you put oil over them, on them, and it runs down their forehead and covers them. When the myrrh fruit was crushed, it gave off an aroma and was also used to anoint the priests. Think about that: The same oil that was once bruised and crushed ended up becoming something that qualified a man to stand in the gap for sinners and intercede for them. If you have suffered, you are now someone who can use that pain as a way to minister to others. What an appropriate gift for Jesus by the Magi: gold (for a king), frankincense (for a burial) and myrrh (to anoint a priest). We are most effective after we have been greatly bruised and broken–and an aroma that is pleasing to the Lord rises from our suffering.”

3. Jesus knows their poverty.

In fact, Jesus states that they are actually rich. The word for poverty means abject or absolute poverty. They had absolutely nothing. That was because of the persecution they were facing. Jesus is not unaware of our helpless state, both spiritually and otherwise.

4. Jesus knows their persecution.

“And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

The Jews in Smyrna were particularly against Christianity. Remember, at this time, Christianity was considered a sect of Judaism. The Jews knew the Christ-followers were different, but to the Roman empire, there wasn’t a lot to distinguish Jew from Christian. Eventually, that changed. Rome considered Judaism to be an ancient religion, whereas when Christianity was eventually distinguished from it, the Roman empire looked with disdain on this new religion. It definitely didn’t help that Christians replaced the buzzphrase of Caesar worship, “Caesar is LORD” with “Jesus is LORD.” Needless to say, it’s doubtful you’re going to make a lot of friends when you are abandoning the mandated worship of the state.

Jesus is saying that when you are facing slander and trouble from people, don’t forget who is really your adversary. It’s not the person in front of you, it’s Satan!

Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 that, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

You’re not fighting against your coworkers, your professors, your in-laws, your clients, that one antagonist guy in the office, the people slandering you on their blog, or through that email they sent you—your struggle isn’t against flesh and blood! It’s against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms!

The Correction

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

Jesus’ correction for them is to not fear. They were about to have 10 days of tribulation, including prison. This could have literally been 10 days, or as some have said there were 10 Caesars that violently persecuted Christians during this time, and it may refer to them. Either way, what is most important is that their suffering would be temporal. This promise would encourage them that there was an end in sight to their suffering.

It wasn’t some fairy-tale Christian-produced movie where everything works out perfectly and is neatly wrapped up before the credits. Jesus isn’t sugar coating hardship. He’s telling them it is about to get worse, a lot worse, even resulting in death. Notice there is no promise of an end to the suffering, only a reward for suffering.

The Christians had a choice, to compromise or be faithful. You see, Caesar worship was required by Rome. If you worshiped Caesar, you would be allowed to go to a hearing where they would grant you a certificate and say, “Caesar is my God,” and they wouldn’t touch you from that point on. If you didn’t have a certificate, they could question you and certainly if you said, “I don’t bow to Caesar; I bow to Jesus Christ,” that would be a threat to Pax Romana, the peace that Rome kept with a sword, and you would be at risk for execution.

Some Christians said, “Come on, just lie and go get the certificate and spare your family! It doesn’t mean anything to you anyway; it’s just telling them what they need to hear.” Other Christians said, “No way, I’m not compromising whom I worship. If they want to take me to my death, to my death I will go.” And so there was this conflict. What would you do?

Many of us would run from suffering because of fear, and we would just lie and get the certificate to spare our lives and the lives of our families.

But Jesus here says, “Don’t be afraid; don’t run!”

The Crown

Sometimes we are surprised by our suffering. It seems to come out of nowhere. And sometimes it seems like it will never end. But we aren’t to be surprised. We are to be ready. We are to endure to the end, even if that end includes death. Why? Because Jesus promises a crown. For the Smyrnese, it would be the crown of life–to not be hurt by the second death.

“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

The crown of life here is reminiscent of the athletic crown of leaves given out to those who won the agony of a competition. They would be rewarded for being victorious. “Oh death, where is thy victory, where is thy sting?” Because of Someone who conquered, we don’t have to be afraid of death. And that Conqueror’s name is Jesus, the One who died and who came to life again.

Consider Jesus, and the suffering He endured. “Gethsemane” means “olive press.” It has the same meaning that myrrh does. Jesus had to suffer, to give His life as a ransom for many. He did so for others, for you and me.

Peter, who was eyewitness to Jesus’ suffering, uses this as the motivation for you and I in our sufferings:

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2).

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power forever and ever. Amen”(1 Peter 5:8-11).

There is no such thing as the perfect church. Someone once said you’ll never find the perfect church–and if you do, don’t start attending there because you are imperfect, and you’ll ruin the perfect church!

Jesus had something to say to seven distinct churches in Asia Minor, almost 2,000 years ago–as He relayed His message to the Apostle John who was exiled off on the rocky island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. With each of these seven churches, Jesus had something to communicate, and they all needed a remedy. That remedy was, and still is, the same remedy for every church. It is JESUS!

Just a quick glance at the seven churches shows us what they were struggling with (adapted from David Hocking):

Ephesus: Neglected Priorities
Smyrna: Satanic Opposition
Pergamos: Religious Compromise
Thyatira: Immoral Practices
Sardis: Spiritual Apathy
Philadelphia: Lost Opportunities
Laodicea: Material Prosperity

With almost all of these churches, there will be a commendation, a criticism and a correction.

There will be a characteristic of Christ (borrowed from Revelation chapter 1) that Jesus customizes about Himself in His address. There will also be a crown that will be offered to the church if they will overcome their sin and adversity. We will be looking at each of these seven churches and the cities they were planted in, to understand both their implications on the modern church and what we can learn individually and corporately from their feats and failures.

Today we turn our attention to the first of the seven churches: Ephesus.

The City

Ephesus was a major port city on the western coast of Asia Minor center for seaborne trade and the hub of the region’s road system. It was a thriving urban community of more than 250,00 to 300,000 people, very similar in population size to Anaheim, New Orleans, Honolulu, Cleveland or Tampa. By the late 1st century AD it was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. The Romans made Ephesus an administrative center for the province of Asia.

World renowned religious shrines, a spacious theater, stadium and elegant public buildings gave Ephesus an integral place in the cultural life of the entire region.

But don’t get the idea that Ephesus was a nice, clean administrative mecca! It was a city with rampant paganism–including the worship, manufacture and sale of fertility idols of the goddess Artemis/Diana (the goddess of the hunt)–whose idol was depicted with dozens of breasts. As you walked through the streets of Ephesus, there were little idols of breasts everywhere the eye looked.

Ephesus had a huge volume of occult arts & practices. Their temple to Artemis/Diana was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and its largest religious structure. Paul had founded a church there, and Timothy was their pastor. They had the benefit of God working powerfully in this dark city, known for its worship of Diana. This was where people brought their handkerchiefs and aprons that touched Paul, and they were healed; and Demetrius the silversmith started a riot because he thought he would lose money from his business for Artemis (Acts 19). This was a city with both great opposition and a great move of God’s Spirit.

The Characteristic of Christ

Revelation 2:1: “These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.”

It is believed by many that the seven lampstands are the churches, but also the Church at large. This is reminiscent of the Jewish menorah, at Hanukkah. We as Christians are to be the light of the world, a lampstand burning for others to see. Notice that Jesus is holding the Church, and He’s walking among us. These two ideas are a picture of intimacy: Jesus is both holding the Church in His right hand (the hand of blessing), but He is also walking among us. He isn’t far off, distant, untouchable, unreachable; you don’t have to dial long distance to speak or hear from Him. He’s right here among us–among you and I–and He wants us to be at peace in His presence. Theologically that is the balance between His transcendence and His immanence. God is transcendent: above His creation; yet He is also immanent: present and with us.

What a great picture of Jesus’ steadfast love. He desires intimacy, love, relationship with us. He wants to be near. Now let’s read the commendation.

The Commendation

Revelation 2:2-3: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.” Also notice verse six: “But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate” (Revelation 2:6).

Jesus commends them for three things:

Their Duty: They were hard-working, busy ministers. You could nickname them “the church of Saint Martha”! Lots of work–but busyness in a church doesn’t always mean the Spirit is at work. Often when things are simple, you can focus your energy on what is most important, things like Acts 2:42 instead of all the flurry of things some churches expend all their energy doing. But Jesus was commending them for their hard work.

Their Doctrine: The church at Ephesus could not bear those who were evil. They would vet, test and confirm if someone was true or false according to Biblical orthodoxy, and if they were false, the church would have nothing to do with their teaching. The word “bear” is the same word used of Jesus carrying the cross. This church could not bear the weight of bad doctrine. They couldn’t carry it. They wouldn’t tolerate it. The church of Ephesus knew their doctrine; they knew what they believed. Would that the church of Jesus Christ today be more like Ephesus on that point! Many Christians today can’t even explain the Gospel plainly, or communicate sound doctrine.

Thirdly, Jesus commended Their Determination: They were persevering and hanging in there despite a lot of hardship, oppression and suffering. Jesus says, “You have not become weary.” That’s amazing! They were the marathon runners of the church! Many people give up as soon as there is a problem in their faith, but not the church of Ephesus.

So, with all of these positives, can’t Jesus just stop there? I mean, isn’t that a great church to be a part of? Doesn’t matter if you are doing amazing things for God, if you have separated yourself from God. What would Jesus say as a word of criticism to this upstanding, doctrinally-sound church?

The Criticism

Revelation 2:4-5: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

The church at Ephesus had their doctrine down, but no devotion. Later we’ll see that Thyratira has the love down, but no doctrine. We need a good balance of truth and love. People that are all truth with no love tend to forget that they too were once a sinner, and God’s love and mercy saved them. People with too much love and not enough truth tend to embrace everyone and fall for anything because they don’t stand for something. The church in Ephesus was a busy, successful church—but they were so busy they had forgotten God.

They knew what doctrines to believe, but they had neglected who the doctrines point to! Jesus says, “You have left your first love.” You’ve forsaken it. The church as a group had lost the intimacy they once had with God. Interesting that they lived in a city known for its worship of Artemis/Diana, who was known as the goddess of the hunt, of children and animals. She was very independent and frivolous and was known for not being faithful to her husband, though she was considered an eternal virgin. Interesting! Ephesus, known for worshipping a goddess that would have no intimacy with a man, had a church that had lost its intimacy with Christ!

The Correction

Revelation 2:5: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

Remember. Repent. Return.

Remember where you used to be with Jesus. Repent–turn back. Acknowledge and own up to the fact that you have fallen away. You haven’t lost your first love. You’ve left it. You’ve drifted. You’ve allowed other things to creep in. Then return to those things you did when you first fell in love with God. When’s the last time you lost track of time when you were spending it in God’s word, in worship or in prayer? If we don’t change, there is another “R”: Remove—Their lampstand would be removed, implying immediate judgment. This could mean that their witness would cease to exist—the light would fade away. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened. Jesus came and removed their lamp–their influence–their witness to their city.

Within time the church at Ephesus died out. Just 30 years earlier, Paul had ended his letter to this church with this admonition:

“Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible” (Ephesians 6:24).

Thirty years after Paul wrote that to them, their undying love had died. Their love incorruptible had become corrupted. They had turned their back, forsaken God, even though they still did all of these things in His name and were known for their deeds. They had left their first love, and they needed to repent and turn back. That is what all of us need today: a fresh look at our priorities and our love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Crown

Revelation 2:7: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”’

The crown–the reward–is the right to eat from the tree of life in God’s garden. Adam and Eve were never given that right, because they forsook their first love and disobeyed in rebellion against God. If they did eat, they would be forever stuck in that state of separation from God.

So He banished them from the garden after they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Today, if we would overcome our cold hearts for God, and return to our first love, He will allow us access one day to the tree of life, and that intimacy can once again be restored. Isn’t that incredible? God wants intimacy with you. He is always there; it is we who turn away and lose our love. He loves you completely and will never lose His love for you.

The Modern Church

In like manner, we can leave our first love, the Lord Jesus. In fact, there may be many more than this, but here are four ways that we leave our first love:

1. We replace LOVE with LAW.

We think erroneously that God wants us to simply follow a list of principles and that equates to a relationship. Now I have to be careful here because Jesus did say in John 14:21 that, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” Obviously the best expression of love for God is to obey His commands. But the danger is when we equate love with merely principles. We begin to set up rigid rules and guidelines and then start serving God out of duty, not out of desire. We can see lots of people doing things out of obligation: military, employees, salesmen, spouses, love relationships. Family Feud asked people to “Rate your marriage on a scale of 1-10.” They surveyed 100 people, and the top answer was rated at a one. That’s what happens when we leave our first love. It’s obligation, not love. Does that describe you today in your relationship with God?

2. We replace LOVE with EMOTION.

Sometimes we feel that we must experience goosebumps or some type of “word from the Lord'” to “feel” the love of God. Charles Spurgeon said: “Deep waters run silently. Great feeling is dumb: There is a frost of the mouth when there is a thaw of the soul.”

Does that mean we should never express our emotions? Of course not! God created us with emotions, so we would be minimizing the Imago Dei if we suppressed any and all emotions. Jesus wept over Jerusalem, had compassion for the crowds who were unshepherded, drove out in anger the money changers from the temple. We read in Scripture that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. These are all emotional responses, and we would be truncating our love for God if we were always suppressing joy or sadness. But we shouldn’t base the quality or reality of our love simply on how we raise our hands, pray our prayers, or cry our tears. I love this quote from Dr. M. Scott Peck:

“Genuine love is volitional rather than emotional. The person who truly loves does so because of a decision to love. This person has made a commitment to be loving whether or not the loving feeling is present. It if is, so much the better; but if it isn’t, the commitment to love, the will to love, still stands and is still exercised. Conversely, it is not only possible but necessary for a loving person to avoid acting on feelings of love. I may meet a woman who strongly attracts me, whom I feel like loving, but because it would be destructive to my marriage to have an affair, I will say vocally or in the silence of my heart, ‘I feel like loving you, but I am not going to.’ My feelings of love may be unbounded, but my capacity to be loving is limited. I therefore must choose the person on whom to focus my capacity to love, toward whom to direct my will to love. True love is not a feeling by which we are overwhelmed. It is a committed, thoughtful decision.”

Have you replaced love for emotion? Have you left your first love?

3. We replace LOVE with LABOR.

This was prescriptive of the church in Ephesus. They had gotten so tied down with their heretic-hunting that they forgot that church is where people experience the love of God and the love of God’s people. How many pastors take a day off from the ministry (or two!) and spend it simply enjoying their families? How many husbands take a consistent date night with their wife? How often does a family sit down and enjoy a meal together without technology? How many families spend time in devotions together? What we tend to find in the church is that people are inundated with diligent, assiduous busywork. How many of us stand exposed as being bogged down in the busywork of Christianity instead of choosing what is better?

4. We replace LOVE with INDIFFERENCE.

We become numb to the things of God because they become familiar. Instead of keeping our zeal for the Lord as we serve Him, we get bored by the same old same old. When there is disinterest in your heart for the things of God it is time for a renewing of your mind! The church of Ephesus had warm hands but cold hearts. Does that describe you today in your relationship with God?

I was shocked by the relevance of this story to our current condition in the world: Muynak was once a thriving fishing port on the Aral Sea. But today, according to James Rupert of the Washington Post, Muynak sits on the edge of a bitter, salty desert. Sand dunes are strewn with the rusted, hollow hulls of a fishing fleet that once sailed high above on the surface of Central Asia’s fountain of life.

Things began changing 30 years ago when Stalinist planners began diverting the Aral’s water source to irrigate the world’s largest cotton belt. No one, however, envisioned the environmental disaster that would result. Weather has become more extreme; the growing season has been shortened by two months, and 80 percent of the region’s farmland has been ruined by salt storms that sweep in off the dry seabed.

What happened at Muynak parallels the history of the church of Ephesus. Once a thriving spiritual community, the Ephesian believers diverted their attention from Christ to works done in His name. They had lost sight of what was most important in their relationship with Christ— their love for Him.

Perhaps that is where the modern church is today. Forgetting the height from which we’ve fallen, we need to repent that we may experience times of refreshing from the Lord once again. We must return to our first love and remember that He first loved us. That first love–that pure love–the love that never let you go–the love that accepts you even now–with all of your rebellion and coldness toward Him–is available for each of us. We may not find the perfect church–but we have certainly discovered perfect love.