Missions Paul

Prior to this letter from Jesus, the city of Sardis had only been attacked and broken into twice in its history. A cursory look at any historical site on Sardis and you will find that in 549 BC and 214 BC the defences of the city were broken down and on both occasions it is right to believe that their overconfidence and a failure to keep watch for their enemies were the reasons for their downfall.

Jesus knows this when he appeals to the church.

“Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” (Revelation 3 v 3)

He is calling them to hold on to what they have been taught, change their thinking and be alert. Otherwise He is coming and it won’t be to bless them!

This analogy of the thief we also see in the gospels as Jesus speaks of His coming. We understand the imagery.

If you knew a thief was coming but you didn’t know when what would you do? Would you cancel your life and spend the entirety not moving out of the house, not properly sleeping, afraid to leave your possessions lest the thief comes when you are away? Is that the life you would choose to live?

Or would you secure your house in readiness that the thief could come anytime? You would secure it by telling the household and even the neighbours of the thief so that you could enlist their help. You would speak often of the thief so that no one becomes complacent in waiting for him to come.

And even more importantly you wouldn’t live a blasé life. You would be diligent about your discipleship and that would involve not becoming arrogant that you would never be defeated.

How many people fell asleep in the Church service yesterday?!

How many Churches were asleep before the service started?

Are we asleep? Are we irrelevant? Are we not connected to what are the important issues? I was talking with a Pastor who had recently commenced at his church and the challenge of the mission he faces. He told me the problem was that the neighbourhood didn’t even know the Church was there. It had fallen asleep. He was trying to waken it up.

“To the angelof the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spiritsof God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” (Revelation 3:1-2)

AW Tozer wrote that if the Holy Spirit were completely withdrawn from the Church, “95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference”.

Sigmund Freud said that we do things asleep we would not do if awake!

It can be disappointing being part of a group who are snoring.

Three times Jesus finds his closest 3 disciples sleeping whilst he is going through his trials. Though there was little chastising by him we can sense the disappointment.

Surviving your Gethsemane will mean that you need to keep on praying despite even the closest disappointing you. The key is ‘the spirit is willing but the body is weak.’

The prayer during disappointment is the prayer that brings the eternal part of you, the God-focused, Christ-centred, Spirit-dwelt part of you to the surface and to make this the loudest voice, the clearest vision and the most powerful thought over what your body is experiencing.

We need to wake-up. The problem could be that we have evidence that we are awake and people may think we are alive and active and thriving but it is what Jesus sees that counts.

Jesus has promised Thyatira His authority as they persevere to the end. He now also promises them something else.

“I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2 v 28-29)

Venus is known as the morning star as the first to appear after the sun sets or the last to disappear before the sun rises. It heralds of course a new day, hope and a new beginning.

But by the end of this revelation we see who the morning star really is: Jesus Himself (22:16). That’s our promise. His very presence. Maybe you cannot muster hope today but you can receive Him. Maybe you’re not interested in enthusiastic plans for the future but you can welcome Him into your today. Some mornings you simply need His presence.

Needing help today? I have a message for you.

My friend in Northern Kenya texted me this morning to say he and his wife had been attacked by armed bandits a few days ago. All around the world these attacks are daily occurrences. If not physical there are spiritual, emotional and mental attacks all the time. How do we get through this?

The Apostle Peter used Psalm 2 in a prayer when the Church was under the threat of punishment. He was saying to God “these threats were used on your Anointed One, Jesus, so now we face the same threats.” (Acts 4) Psalm 2 is an important message to all who face pressure to give up which we will see in our verses today.

The church in Thyatira is reprimanded for tolerating teaching that has crept into the church which was akin to the attack from Jezebel, wife of King Ahab, upon God’s people generations previously. It involved compromise based around sexual and food idolatry but worse than that this ‘Jezebel’ was teaching that it was acceptable to God, that it was prophetic. However, Jesus who sees it all knows where it comes from and reveals how Satan is behind this plot. Our attention is now drawn to those who are not following Jezebel.

“Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’ To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father.” (Revelation 2 v 24-27)

Sunday 22^nd January 2017 I stood with a married couple with 2 small children for a photograph. This was their farewell from the church as they were being sent as church planters to an area where there was absolutely no Christian witness. It was for me a most poignant moment for I knew the struggle that they would face. I was in the region of the world where the Church is continually persecuted. Christians carried injuries to their bodies because they were Christ followers. I was told of how their houses got burnt down, their children set upon and their entire family despised as worthless. I asked the question, “What happens when it all gets too much?” The answer that came shocked me.

There is a message from some of the persecuted church that teaches everyone in the Christian world today.

You may enter your day struggling to get through it. You face internal pressures from external circumstances that are causing you to wonder if you will ever be free. Physical problems, loneliness, financial instability, loss of work and broken relationships are making you feel like you are swimming against the tide. Let the persecuted Christians help you today. They have found something that is priceless. If we do what they do then we will be saved in our circumstance.

The answer?

“We stay.”

 Resist the temptation to compromise, to walk from the cross and not towards to, do not choose the easy option. Persevere. Hold on. Stay.

Jesus says He will give His authority to the one who is victorious and follows His will to the end. This is a promise for you today. You can win. You can overcome. You can beat that which is against you. You can stay.

Jesus uses Psalm 2:9, seen as a prophecy for the Messianic authority. Everyone knew the Psalm. They imagined God laughing in the face of the enemy of our life because no matter what is happening He is still in control of our lives with a greater authority than what is coming against us, for He is the King of all Kings.

You may think you are on the edge today and that actually you are really close to giving up. But within you is the presence of Christ and you have the authority to resist. You can be victorious.

Ignore the threats and what people have said they will do or won’t do. Ignore and walk on. Walking away from conflict is at times stronger than staying for it. You can be victorious.

Don’t give up!

We are living in days when absolute truth is being attacked by relativism. What is true for you is not necessarily true for me. I am free to do whatever I want to do and express myself in any way I so desire and at the same time hold to the title ‘Christian’. Self-indulging and Cross-denying are high on the agenda. The moment you speak up about it then the price has to be paid. If you say enough is enough and we need to return to the Cross in surrender is the time you are crucified yourself. There is a teaching that has creeped into the church through debate, voting, division and pain that holds on to Jesus but with conditions and that is the freedom that I paint for myself. We are in days of Thyatira, wonderful churches and lots of activity. However …

“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. ²² So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. ²³ I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” (Revelation 2 v 20-23)

Thyatira were not committing sin but they were tolerating another teaching which had crept into the church. Jesus gave this teacher and so-called prophet a nickname, Jezebel. In my own life I have heard people cruelly and ignorantly use this nickname for women who teach and preach in the church. They use it incorrectly as well as being just wrong. The use of this name here takes us back to the Old Testament just as the use of Balaam within the church of Pergamum. She was the wife of the wicked King Ahab. She was the seduction of Israel introducing a rival god, Baal. The church were not speaking up against a sexual freedom and idolatrous food festivals that were marring its reputation. They tolerated it. They didn’t like it nor did they agree with it but they didn’t speak up against it. As a result its members were being misled under the guise of the will and purpose of God.

Tolerating sin is not the same as spending time privately pleading for the person to come to their senses. Neither is tolerating sin the same as giving them time to repent as Jesus was saying before He brought destruction on them.

Any watering down of Jesus the only way, the Cross the only means and surrender the only response either by teaching or behaviour will not lead to life but death. One day a man who had walked from his position at the foot of the Cross called me and asked if he was going to hell. I looked at what had become of him and told him he was already in hell but he could get out if he would repent. The bed of intercourse/freedom/idolatry/relativism will become a bed of suffering not for the one but for others who are misled by this.

Why? Because “appearances don’t impress me” (Msg). The surrendered life which has become cruciform is the only way. Anything else is less than what Jesus accomplished for us.

You can look like a fantastic Church/Christian and yet there can be something fundamentally wrong.

Who wouldn’t want to be a member of Thyatira?

“I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you …” (Revelation 2 v 19-20)

It could be said that they even got better than they were before. Deeds, love, faith, service and perseverance all had increased. Nevertheless …

The problem was that they had lost touch with Jesus because they had compromised themselves by following false teaching which we will see as we read further.

Not everything that happens on the stage is a true reflection. Sadly sometimes it is only an act.

Who are you behind the stage? When the curtains close to rapturous applause who are you?

These wonderful traits found in Thyatira in comparison to intimacy with Jesus are worthless. They may benefit the crowds but there will be a final curtain call and when it is all over what will be left?

How important is your activity on the stage?

Do you think you deserve some awards? What about promotion? Recognition? After all you have done do you feel entitled to opportunities that have not come your way? Look at all those great things you have said and done and the fact that you have gained success.  Crowds can change a person. They can give a person a feeling of superiority. They can deceive someone to think they are better than they really are.

Are you known off the stage?

“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

The audience of the One is better than the auditoriums of thousands.

The greatest thing of your life today is that you will once again open your life for Him to know you. You will share your struggles, ask forgiveness, ask for strength and you will desire Him. In doing this He will know you. Don’t stop your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, but not in place of your intimacy with Jesus. Being known each day will mean that ‘Nevertheless’ will not be said of you. Amen!

The next church Jesus addresses is Thyatira.

The religion of this city, like other Roman cities, worshipped Apollo, the son of god. They did this by worshipping the emperor, who they believed to be the incarnate son of god. Apollo was basically the god over everything and when Rome took over the Greek gods he became known as the sun god. Before this it was Helios (depicted as riding a fiery chariot dragging the sun across the sky) who was seen as the sun god. That was the religious focus of this city which was well known for its many crafts, guilds and the smelting works of copper and bronze.

“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.” (Revelation 2 v 18)

And so here is the message:-

“I am the Son of God not Helios, Apollo or your emperor as the incarnate deity.”

“Your city is known for its fire, my eyes are balls of fire. You are known for your bronze works, but look at my feet”

If you want a verse to show Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, here is one of them. His eyes can penetrate through all the fake disguises and deceptions to get to the truth of the heart of these people. His feet can trample over anything that sets itself up against God. He walks over sin. Both are needed in this church.

Don’t be afraid of what stands in front of you, whether that be hidden agendas where you just do not know the truth or established sinful thrones at the centre of your town and city. It is nothing compared to the Son of God who stands with you.

Some days we need to hold on to the promise that it will get better.

To this Church of Pergamum Jesus has told them to deal with the corruption of idolatry and now He tells them what their reward will be.

Whatever the hostile environment you find yourself in today here is the verse for you:

Hold on, resist the pressure to give up and I will come to you.

“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2 v 17)

• I will provide for you. When you think you won’t make it; when there doesn’t seem to be any let-up from this pressure you are under; when it gets too much, remember the hidden manna. We all know the story of the divine bread falling from heaven. Jesus is saying I still do this.
• I will open the way for you. Sometimes used as inscriptions on buildings; or entrance tokens for events and even for jurors who either acquit (white) or condemn (black), remember the white stone. Jesus says I will hand you the white stone and it will declare and direct you into your new season.
• I will give you purpose. The Old Testament we see how new names were given to associate that person with a new day. A new identity for a new beginning. Have you known a friend who is starting a new chapter, perhaps a new job or a new place to live etc. The sense of purpose is refreshing. Jesus says I will do that for you.

Hold on to the promises as you clear out the idolatry. That’s the message.

It was only a few things and from only some within this otherwise good church.

“Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Revelation 2 v 14-16)

Whoever the Nicolaitans were, their teaching in the first century church was linked to that of the teaching of Balaam 6-7 centuries previously. It was the same age-old problem for the people of God. But there’s nothing new under the sun. A brief look at the story (Numbers 22-24) reveals how the prophet Balaam would not under King Balak’s orders curse the people of God. The donkey was blocked by an angel carrying a sword and Jesus says I have a sword in my mouth and I will fight against those who are destroying Pergamum church. Balaam has another idea and that is to entice the men of Israel with the Moabite women who were saying, ‘We worship our gods through eating this amazing food and having sex with these women, would you like to try?’ Jude (1:11) hints that there was financial gain for the Moabite women.

So the problem with this church was that it was being led astray from within by teaching which was seducing and enticing them away from Jesus into idolatry which are things we look to in order to find God, peace and satisfaction.

It may be difficult to see its application for us today. However even within the life of the Christian we can see idolatry of food, sex and money. Don’t idolise food. Consume food but don’t let food consume you. Don’t idolise sex. Sex doesn’t define you nor should it saturate your life. Don’t idolise money. Use money, save money, give money but don’t love money.

Churches/Christians may not be cursed today but they can be corrupted easily enough.

Let’s remind ourselves today that Jesus is stronger than anything that is coming against you.

‘To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live – where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives.” Revelation‬ ‭2:12-13‬

In these 2 verses we see how Jesus is far stronger:-‭

Satan has a throne. Big deal! In this Revelation the word ‘throne’ is mentioned once for the beast and twice for Satan but 44 times referring to the throne of Jesus and God! The point being is His throne is far more significant!

Under Satan’s influence God’s people are dying by the sword. But look! Who has the sharp double edged sword? Jesus has it. His sword is mightier.

Satan lives in the city. So what? Guess who knows where everyone lives? Jesus!