Seven Words to the Church Today (Week 4), Feb. 27, 2022 - Andy Turner

The church in Thyatira appears to be the most insignificant out of the seven in Revelation – but there is no such thing as an insignificant church to Jesus. Andy continues in week 4 of our series to share more about Jesus’s words to this church that was full of love but empty of truth. Thyatira was being infiltrated by a Jezebel-like person, a story that’s as old as time and still affects churches to this day. How can the church today stand strong for both truth and love? “There is no such thing as an insignificant place or an insignificant church in Jesus’ eyes. He deeply loves and cares for and wants the best for every single church that bears his name, regardless of their size or their location.” “Sexual sin is different than every other kind of sin – sexual sin is not only sinning against God, but against your own body. There’s little in this world that impacts us as deeply or as intimately as sex, and there are real reasons why Jesus would rebuke the church for becoming too flippant with it and encourage the church to view it in its proper way.” “It’s always right to do what’s right.” “Where Ephesus lacked ‘love,’ they loved ‘truth.’ Thyatira had ‘love,’ but they lacked ‘truth.’ Any healthy church must love ‘love,’ and they must love ‘truth.’” “Every single day that we are given on this earth is an opportunity for those who do not know Christ, to repent. It is one of the ways that Jesus shows his mercy to the world that he died for. Every single day that he does not come back – every single day – is an opportunity for somebody to hear about the goodness and the hope that they can have in Jesus and to have the opportunity to repent.” “God does not expect us to be perfect, though perfection is the mark that we strive for. What he does expect is for us to be a community of repenting sinners. What he does expect is for us to call sin what he calls sin.” “Jesus says that they were tolerating ‘the woman Jezebel.’ It was a descriptive title pointing back to the evil wife of king Ahab. Jesus was likely talking about a certain type of person who was infiltrating the church… probably somebody who had a powerful personality, who could easily gain the trust of others and easily gain their own following. He was talking about someone who was probably really, really smart… someone influential… a good communicator… someone who could speak just enough truth while meddling in lies, as not to raise too many red flags. Someone who was easy to trust because of how convincing and nice they could be. This is a story as old as time.” “We’ve all trusted someone that looking back, we wish we would never have trusted. We’ve all confided in someone, or been swayed by someone, and realized that they didn’t have our best interest at heart. And here, the church of Thyatira is buying into whatever this Jezebel-like person is selling… however, like the Jezebel of old, this person is evil, deceptive, scheming, idolatrous, and sexually immoral. And the liberty that she promises will actually just lead them further away from Jesus.” “A Jezebel would say something like this – ‘it’s ok to compartmentalize what is sacred in your life and what is secular. You can make them completely two different things. It’s ok if on occasion you have to compromise your convictions – Jesus understands. Isn’t that what grace is for? It won’t hurt anyone… sometimes it’s just what you have to do to get by.’ Listen to me church – when the church begins to look like the world, you have a sick church. When the church begins to act like the world, you have a powerless church. When the church begins to play with the world, you have an unfaithful church. And Jezebels may be able to fool some, but they cannot fool Christ.”