DEAR THYATIRA: YOU'VE GOT WOMAN TROUBLE

Revelation 2:18-29


1. It is not unusual to hear about someone causing trouble in a church. Some
members are like the old man that had been a member of the church for 65
years. The new pastor said to him one day, "Being that you have been a member
here for 65 years, I guess you have seen some mighty big changes here." The
old man answered, "Yep, sure have, and I've been against all of them."


2. A farmer asked a restuarant owner if he could use a million frog legs.
Desirous of putting frog legs on the menu more frequently, the owner asked
the farmer where he could get so many. The farmer said, "My pond is
overflowing with them. Their croaking is driving me up the wall." The owner
told the farmer to bring him as many as he could. A week later the farmer
returned with an embarassed look on his face. He held up two scrawny frogs
and said, "I was wrong about a million frog legs. These two frogs were making
all the racket. I never knew two frogs could sound like a million." Many a
congregation has a couple of croakers who complain enough for a hundred
people.


3. The church at Thyatira had a member that was causing problems in the
church. She was causing both personal and doctrinal problems within the
Church. The problems that she was causing were so serious and severe that the
letter the church received from the Lord contained a stern rebuke and called
for a swift reply.


4. It is interesting that a woman had probably founded the church. Of all the
7 churches, this one we know the least about. We do read in Acts 16 about a
convert of Paul named Lydia. She was called a seller of purple and identified
as being from Thyatira.


5. The city of Thyatira was famous for its making of a purple dye that was
used to dye the garments of Kings, Queens, emperors, etc. It came from a
shellfish in which one would slit its throat and from the throat of that
shellfish they would get a drop of the purple dye. It was very expensive and
in most cases use only by royalty.


6. It is possible that Lydia after her conversion, returned to Thyatira and
was instrumental in founding the church. In the letter the church received
from Jesus, we see that not only had a woman founded the church, but a woman
confounded the church. In the letter Jesus sent to Thyatira He said, "Dear
Thyatira: You've got woman problems."


I. A WORK THAT WAS UNCEASING IN THE CHURCH!


As we have seen in each of the letters, Jesus began His letters by commending
the churches for the positives in the church. The thing the Lord commended
the church at Thyatira for was their works. Jesus said to each of the 7
churches "I know thy works." But to the church at Thyatira Jesus twice spoke
of their works [Vs.19]. This was a working church.


A. He Spoke Of The Motive Of Their Works.


[Vs.19 "thy charity"] . . . The motive behind their works was love. They did
what they did because of their love.


1. There was an INTERNAL love in the church. They loved one another. For the
most part, the members got along with each other because they loved one
another. The majority of the members were not at each others throat but on
each others heart.


2. A motorist asked a young fellow how to get to a certain location. He said,
"Go one block south and you'll see a church on the corner. That's the United
church. Turn left and go two blocks and you'll see a church that is not
united. It's just past it. All too often that is the testimony that the
church leaves with those around it.


3. Someone has written:

To dwell above with saints we love,
That will be grace and glory.
To live below with the saints we know,
That's a different story!


4. There was an EXTERNAL love in the church. They loved sinners and wanted to
see people saved. They looked upon the lost with great interest and not with
indifference.


5. Someone has said, "We are no longer Fisher of Men but Keepers of the
Aquarium." The average church has lost its love for the lost. It is said
that if you were to line up all the lost people, one behind the other, they
would circle the globe 30 times. And that line grow at the rate of 20 miles a
day.


6. There was a SUPERNAL love in the Church. For the most part there was a
deep and devout love for Jesus Christ. Jesus was loved with all their
hearts, souls, minds, and being. Jesus was more than a fire-escape from hell
and a passport to heaven. He was a Saviour and Lord that was loved very
deeply.


7. This was the motive of their works. They loved the saints, they loved the
sinner, and they loved the Saviour. This internal, external, and supernal
love was what moved them and motivated them to work.


8. I read just the other day that the earth is traveling through space at the
speed of 660,000 mph. I thought, its too bad that the people on earth are not
moving. The reason people don't work is they don't love. Love is always a
verb, never a noun.


B. He Spoke Of The Ministry Of Their Works.


1. [Vs.19 "service"] . . . The word "service" is the word diakonia which
speaks of ministry. It speaks of giving attendance to certain needs. It is
similiar to the word "deacon" which implies ministry. In this church there
was more than activity. There was ministry.
2. Some churches can be described as busy. They have a lot of activities but
very little ministries. They Bowl for Blessings on Monday night - Jog for
Jesus on Tuesday - eat in the kitchenette and endure a sermonette on
Wednesday - homeruns for heaven on Thursday - golf for glory on Friday and
spread the table to stay able on Saturday.


3. Jesus is not impressed with activity. He commends ministry. Everything the
church does should have ministry as its focus. The things we do should be a
means to an end, not an end to our means. Every program, gathering, and
function should have as it purpose the edification of the saints, the
salvation of the sinner, and the glorification of the Saviour.


4. Jesus wants you more than involved in the Church. He wants serving in His
work. Many are you are active but are you serving? Many ought to stop and ask
themselves: "I doing this and doing that, but what am I doing that is a
ministry to encourage the saint, evangelize the sinner, and exalt the
Saviour. Jesus will not bless and reward you for activity. He only blesses
and reward ministry.


C. He Spoke Of Their Maintaining Of Works.


1. [Vs.19 "faith" "patience" ] . . . The word "faith" carries the ideal of
faithfulness, fidelity, and loyalty. Most of these member were not fickle but
faithful. The word "patience" means to abide. It describes someone that that
was unmovable when circumstances were unfavorable. These word indicate that
they believers did not allow anything to keep them from working for God.


2. Being from North Carolina I am often asked, "What is a Tarheel?" A modern
day answer would be, "the greatest basketball team in the country." There
have been several explanations but it is believed that the nickname came from
the civil war. During a fierce fight some Confederate soliders fled leaving
the N.C. soldiers to fight alone. The N.C. soldier supposedly threatened to
put tar, a product that was plentous in North Carolina, on the heels of the
other Condeferate soldiers so that they would stick better in the next fight.
GOD WANTS EVERYONE TO BE A TARHEEL!!!


D. He Spoke Of The Measure Of Their Works.


1. [Vs.19 "thy works; and the last to be more than the first."] . . . In most
cases the older one gets in the Lord, the colder they get. Many start out
like a like a torrent but end up like a trickle. Jesus said that they were
doing more now than when they first started.


2. In very church the story is the same. You have people that at one time
served God and were good workers. But in time they began to back out and back
off. How rare to find someone that over the years has never lost their zeal,
their burden, and desire to serve God and it can be said of them that the
last is more than the first.


3. I see people that have served God and worked in the church for years. But
then retirement age comes and they get them a Winnebago and the work of God
is given a back seat. I like what the Psalmist said in Psalm 92:12-14, "The
righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in
Lebanon. [13] Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish
in the courts of our God. [14] They shall still bring forth fruit in old
age; they shall be fat and flourishing;"


4. You may not be able to do as much as you once did, but you want to do all
you can. We should not seek retirement, but refirement!


1. A Work That Was Unceasing In The Church.


II. A WOMAN THAT WAS UPSETTING TO THE CHURCH!


1. Any Church you go into owes much to the women in the Church. This church
as well as any other could not do what it does without its women. Thank God
for those dear women that keep the nurseries, sing in the choir, teach
Sundays classes, and do so many other things that the women do.


2. I think about what Garrison Keillor said about manhood. "Manhood, once an
opportunity for acheivement, now seems like a problem to be overcome. What
you find is a terrible gender anxiety, guys trying to be Mr Right; the man
who can bake a cherry pie, go shoot skeet, come back, toss a salad, converse
easily about intimate matters, cry if need be, laugh, hug, be vulnerable,
perform passionately that night, and the next day go off and lift them bales
onto the barge and tote it. Being perfect is a terrible way to spend your
life, and guys aren't equipped for it, anyway."


3. There are some things men are not eqipped for and women do better. Thank
God for those women who work in the Church. What a blessing they are to the
church. But in the church at Thyatira there was a woman instead of helping
the church, she was hindering the church.


A. Notice Her Description.


1. [Vs.20 "that woman Jezebel" ] . . . When Jesus called her Jezebel, it was
a description rather than identification. Jesus was descrbing her nature, not
giving us her name.


2. Jezebel was an Old Testament character. She was the wife of King Ahab. She
was no doubt the meanest woman in the Bible. She killed God's prophet; set up
the worship of Baal; cheated and murdered Naboth; and corrupted Israel. She
was the epitome of wickedness and evil.


3. Whoever this woman was in the church, she was evil, wicked, diabolical,
and down right mean. I heard about a couple that stopped at a Gas Station to
get some gas. The wife had trouble hearing. The gas attendant came out and
said, “Fill ‘er up?”
The man said, “Yes.”
His wife asked, “What did he say?”
After a while the attendant said, “You have a nice car. What kind is it?”
The man answered, “It’s a Chrysler.”
The wife asked, “What did he say?”
“He wanted to know what kind of car we have. I told him it was a Chrysler.”
Then the attendant asked, “Are you going far?”
The man said, “We are just going to Nashville.”
The wife asked, “What did he say?”
“He asked if we are going far and I told him we were going to Nashville.”
The attendant asked, “Where you from?”
“Atlanta.”
“What did he say?”
“He wanted to know where we’re from. I told him we were from Atlanta.”
The attendant said, “Atlanta? I used to know a woman there. Beyond a shadow
of doubt, she was meanest, hardest, bitterest, coldest, woman I’ve ever
known in all my life.”
The wife said, “What did he say?”
The husband responded, “He thinks he knows your mother.” This woman was
certainly a mean woman. (I think I have met her a couple of times through the
years.)


B. Her Deception.


1. [Vs.20 "which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My
servants" ] . . . This woman was a self-proclaimed voice of God. She was
promoting herself as one whom God revealed truth. The word "seduce" means to
lead astray, to deceive.

2. Paul writing in II Timothy, warned about men who were false teachers
creeping to house and leading "captive silly women laden with sins, led away
with divers lusts." But in this case, it was the woman that was the false
teacher that was leading men astray.


C. Her Doctrine.


1. [Vs. "To commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols." ] .
. .[ Called a doctrine Vs.24] We noticed in the Church at Smyrna how they
were letting the world into the Church. In this case, they were getting into
the world.


2. The committing of fornication was probably figurative. Descriptive of
unfaithfulness to God and the things of God. This is a language that is often
used in the Bible to speak of a believer unfaithful to God.

James 4:4 "Ye adulterers and adulteressess, know ye not that the friendship
of the world is enmity with God? Whoseover therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God."

I Chron.5:25 "And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and
went a whoring after the gods of the people of the land.."


3. The statement "to eat things sacrificed after idols" is another way of
saying they were participating in the things of the world and doing the
things the world did. This woman was teaching that it was alright to go out
into the world and live as the world.


4. [Note Vs.20 "thou sufferest" ] . . . The word means "tolerate." They were
allowing her to teach her doctrine and deceive others. It sounds like the
church of today. This is the age of being broadminded. We say that we don't
want to be legalists. We don't want to be old-fashion, out-dated, and
extremists. We say, "This is the 90's."


5. There are two great dangers the church of today faces. One is going to far
to the right (legalism). The other is going to far the left (liberty). Yes,
not everything is wrong. But we must never forget that not everything is
right.


6. In 1912, Mark Twain declared that he was running for President. When he
was asked about his position by the press, he said, "I am in favor of
anything and everything anybody is in favor of."


7. That is about the attitude of the Church in these days. We act as if
nothing is right and nothing is wrong. The world has gotten into the church,
and the christian has gotten into the world. We want to live in the world,
live as the world, live for the world, and at the same time claim to be
living for God.


8. We hear about movie stars that supposedly got saved, yet they still
continue to star in movies that are full of cursing and all kinds of filth.
Iwe hear about Country & Western singers will sing their songs about cheating
and drinking, and then sing "I'd Rather Have Jesus, " at the end. THE
COMMAND OF GOD IS 'COME YE OUT FROM AMONG THEM!"
9. We use the excuse that we can be a witness. Nobody has ever been a witness
by being like the world, but by being different than the world. God never
planned on his people being a part of the world, but being apart from the
world.


10. I have never understood why somebody wants to be involved in what's going
down. I rather be a part of whats going up. Separation from the world is not
being hysterical but biblical.


1. A Work That Was Unceasing In The Church.
2. A Woman That Was Upsetting To The Church.


III. A WORD THAT WAS UTTERED FOR THE CHURCH!


1. [Vs.20 "Not withstanding, I have a few things against thee." ] . . . This
was very disturbing to the Lord and dangerous to the Church. The Lord spoke
factually and firmly with the Church over this matter.


A. A Correction That Would Indentify God.


1. [Vs.21-23] . . . It was a promise of God that he would deal with the
woman and those that were in bed with her, her children (followers of what
she taught). It was a promise of judgment.


2. God made it clear he would give them an opportunity to get it right.
[Vs.21 & 22] But if they would not get it right, he would deal with them in
a serious and severe way. It was a call for God's people leave the world and
cleave unto the Lord.


3. When His judgment came, then all would know that He is the One that
searches the reins and hearts of all men and rewards them according to their
deeds.


B. The Committment That Would Glorify God.


1. [Vs.24-25] . . . He spoke to those who had been faithful and encouraged
them to remain faithful. He told them to "hold fast" till he returned.


2. A little boy was selling his horse. A man walked up and asked him, "Son,
can that horse run fast." The little boy said, "No, but he can standfast."


3. The need of our day is for Christians to be like Jesus and not like the
world. It is a need to transformed not conformed. It is a need to be faithful
and true to God.