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

Revelation 2:18-3:6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:

¹⁹ ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. ²⁰ But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. ²¹ I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. ²² Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. ²³ And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. ²⁴ But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. ²⁵ Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. ²⁶ He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; ²⁷ and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; ²⁸ and I will give him the morning star. ²⁹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ³ So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. ⁴ But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ⁶ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Proverbs 1:9 says:   That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun.     As we read scripture, it becomes clear that, at least concerning man’s actions, the ways in which he sins, there really is nothing new. What also never changes is God’s displeasure with sin and Jesus call for sinners to repent.

In today’s text, the first message is to Thyatira. The Lord says: “I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.”  That sounds like a word any church would be glad to hear. Not only are they loving, serving, persevering and doing deeds of faith, but they are growing, they are greater now than at first.  Then the Lord adds this:    “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”     It is important to recognize that what the Lord has against the church at Thyatira is not that they themselves practice and teach what Jezebel does. The Lord says:   “ She teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”   The sin of Thyatira is not that they do or teach these things, but that they tolerate the one or ones who do.

Tolerance is a major buzz word in our society and culture today. We are told that we must tolerate everyone and anything. Our culture has tried to equate tolerance with love and intolerance with hate. But that of course is a lie. Jesus, the very one who, because of love, gave His life for the forgiveness of the sins of all, has Himself no tolerance for sin. He says:  “ I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.”   

For those who might say that these words are just the words of John, a delusional old man and do not express the love, acceptance and tolerance of Jesus, in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus, when He walked here on earth said:     “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”        Making a mistake, committing a sin or sins will not exclude anyone from the love, grace and acceptance of Christ. Choosing sin, practicing lawlessness on the other hand Christ will not tolerate. The Lord says:   “ I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.”   We too, as long as we have breath, have an opportunity, time to repent and receive the grace and mercy of forgiveness and redemption. Jesus says:   “I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.”     Immorality is not new to our time and culture.  That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done.     We though, need to not give in to the demands of our culture and society. We need to hold fast to Jesus. To love as He loves and to tolerate only what He Himself tolerates.    

To the church at Sardis, the Lord says:  “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.  So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”     That they were alive but dead, that their deeds were not complete in the sight of God, would make it seem that the church at Sardis was not walking and abiding in Christ. When we abide in Christ, God sees us as complete, restored in Him. The Lord says:   “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”      There is a debate among many both Biblical scholars and others as to whether we are “once saved always saved” or if it is possible to lose salvation. I am not a Biblical scholar and I am thankful that it is not up to me, or any of us for that matter, to determine the rules for salvation. I will say though that the words:   “I will not erase his name from the book of life,”   should at least give us pause, they should cause us not to presume on the grace and mercy of God, but rather to hold fast to the cross of Christ.  

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

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your word, Your encouragement, exhortation and Your warning to Your church. Thank You for Your continuing revelation of Jesus Christ, Your love, Your grace and Your righteousness.   Amen