Date: 2025-05-09

AO: 3rd-f

Q: Bishop

PAX: Yogi (Florence), Boucher, Mr Rogers, Bionic, Web, Clarice, Frodo, Paycheck, Sharpie, Bishop

FNGs: None

COUNT: 10

Today was a great day. Good discussion about how we as believers balance holding onto conviction while being compassionate. Stark contrast of the Church at Thyatira with the Church at Ephesus, and we are called to live in the middle.

Prayers for you all, God Bless.

Revelation 2:18-29

– Smallest of the cities that received a letter, but they receive the most verses and words. May this be a reminder that God does not see things as we see them.

– No background given biblically as to the founding of the church, but clues

– Acts 16:14 – Lydia is converted to Christianity, and called a “dealer in purple cloth.” This is done through Paul’s ministry in Philippi.

– Major industries are wool, leather, cloth, and linen.

1. Jesus’ identification

2. Son of God

3. Only time this is used in Revelation

4. Different than “Son of Man” from chapter 1

5. Blazing Fire and Feet like Burnished Bronze

6. Speaks to holiness, purity, and justice/judgment of sin

7. Some good things are happening, but there’s a real issue (vs.. 19)

8. Love and faith, service and perseverance, and you are doing more (growing)

9. These are great descriptions of a church

10. Thyatira was a city like many in those days with strong Roman connections. This one was especially run by guilds, a group of like-minded individuals who sought to do commerce together. Imagine an extremely hostile Chamber of Commerce, you had to belong to be included. Not participating in the rituals that these guilds valued was not simply seen as being odd, you could easily be seen as the problem. And you would suffer economically and socially.

Thus the believers here, and the church here, have a problem. People are coming to know the Lord but they are still being influenced by these guilds. Some were almost certainly members of these before. But now, serving God, following God, becomes a test of whether or not you are willing to endure the hardship of turning your back on the practices of these guilds.

(vs. 4) Specifically, many of them would participate in the rituals of these false gods, sacrificing to them and afterward, engaging in sexual relations with other worshippers or temple prostitutes that would be viewed as earthly avatars of the gods themselves. This was all to become one with the god in question.

Into this steps a “Jezebel,” who led Ahab to idolatry in 1 Kings 16. She has set herself up as a prophet in the church, and has a solution to this problem. The solution is the same, at its heart, as the one Pergamum faced. She was apparently teaching that God was interested in your soul and your heart, what you did with your body didn’t really matter. So if you were part of that guild, and you were a successful business person, then you didn’t have to give that stuff up, God is ok with it.

It is important to note there is no evidence to say this woman is Lydia. Some go too far in connecting dots here. But she was likely a person who was involved in the guilds, successful, and leading others astray through this false teaching of gnosticism that said your body doesn’t matter. She was even framing this situation in such a way that the believers would have sex with each other, including her. If you are going to participate anyway, let’s do this with each other and get closer to our God in the process. This is referenced by “so called deep secrets” in verse 24, but Jesus is saying that these are actually from Satan.

This idea speaks to being more “enlightened” and understanding if you choose to look past God’s words into his secret meanings, which is all in actuality a false hope cultivated by the accuser.

1. God is patient, but He does have a limit (vs. 21)

1. I’ve given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.

1. She and her followers (children) will be destroyed

1. Not everyone had joined them, and there is a reward (24 ff)

1. 26 – 28 – This is all saying the same thing

1. Psalm 2:9 is a reference to Christ in fulfillment, earlier said for David.

2. I will give that one “the morning star” (Revelation 22:16)

3. Jesus is saying he will give them Himself. He is the reward for following God’s path, not what our human hearts say is right.

The church of Ephesus had lost its compassion. Some in the churches of Pergamum and Thyatira had lost their conviction. Let’s get practical about what we need to do:

1. Conviction: What does the Bible say about sexuality as the ideal: One man, one woman, for life, in marriage. Anything outside of this causes pain and conflict. And we all have our own cross to bear on this, and it may look very different from person to person.

2. Compassion: This is a struggle for ALL, that struggle just looks different. We must find the balance between holding to our convictions while remaining compassionate. We must not forsake our love, but we also cannot tolerate false teachings that lead to destruction.

Jesus’ call is to HOLD ON – vs. 25.