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Sermon preached on Revelation 2:18-3:6 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 12/15/2024 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
We continue our series through Revelation, working through the next two letters to the seven churches. Chapter one began with a vision revealing how Christ is with his churches to care for them. In that vision, he then gave a letter to each of the seven churches referenced in that vision. Last time we studied the second and third letters, that warned about two different tactics Satan uses to afflict Christ’s church. Today we turn to the letters to Thyatira and Sardis. The letter to Thyatira will address unbiblical tolerance, which given our culture’s call for almost absolute tolerance, we need to be reminded that tolerance can only go so far. The letter to Sardis will address nominal Christianity, a far too common problem in Christ’s churches, and something we also need to be on guard against. Let us hear what the Spirit continues to speak today in these letters.
We begin first with the letter to Thyatira, verses 18-28, dealing with unbiblical tolerance. This letter is at the center of the seven letters and is also the longest. While Thyatira was not the most prominent city of that day, we do know it was a producer of purple dye. Recall the convert Lydia from Acts 16:14 was from Thyatira and she was a seller of purple goods. Jesus addresses this letter to Thyatira’s angel, identifying himself as the Son of God with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like burnished bronze. This language reminds me of Malachi 3 which speaks of the Lord coming in his authority as a refining fire to purify his temple. We will see that this church needs such refining fire to come and cleanse it.
So then, following the normal pattern, the body of the letter to Thyatira begins in verse 19 with the words, “I know.” He begins with a glowing commendation. He praises their works, love, faith, service, and patient endurance. These are the qualities that Revelation has so far said are essential to Christians. He even mentions that their latter works are greater than their first which is to say they aren’t having the problems that the church of Ephesus was having. Remember, in that letter to Ephesus, we said they were struggling with dead orthodoxy, where they did a good job of getting rid of false teaching in the church, but their love had grown cold, as evidenced by their lacking works. Ephesus got the orthodoxy right but not the orthopraxy. But, here, in Thyatira, it’s more like the opposite. They seem to have gotten the orthopraxy right. They’ve lived a commendable Christian life in so many ways, and their love for Christ is seen in full fervor with their acts of Christian service growing more and more. Yet, they had a doctrine issue in their midst that they weren’t dealing with.
We see this in verse 20 where Jesus says that he has against them that they are tolerating that woman Jezebel. Jesus goes on to describe this woman as a false prophetess. She was coming in her own authority with a false message for the church. The person Jesus has in mind was quite likely not actually named Jezebel. Rather, Jesus is likely vividly describing her to be like that infamous Jezebel from the Old Testament. It’s like how you might refer to someone today as a Benedict Arnold to describe them as a treasonous traitor. Recall that Jezebel in the Old Testament was the wife of the wicked King Ahab. She was a foreign princess from Sidon who introduced worship of Baal and Asherah, ultimately trying to destroy the worship of the LORD from Israel. As queen, she used her position and power in ruthless wickedness in things like trying to destroy the true prophets of God. She was also denounced for her harlotries and sorcery in 2 Kings 9:22. So then, this evil Jezebel is who Jesus uses to describe the evil prophetess in Thyatira that they had been tolerating.
What was the false message that this Jezebel had for the church at Thyatira? Part of that message is described in verse 21. She was teaching church members to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. Likewise, in verse 24 she apparently was trying to entice people with promises of learning certain mysteries she called “deep things.” Likely, it is Jesus who is explaining to us that such deep things are actually of Satan, versus her describing them as “of Satan”. Now, we don’t know all the particulars here of her teachings, but we know that these things were common in some of the pagan religious rituals back then. Such rituals might begin with an animal sacrificed to an idol and then feasted upon. It might culminate with acts of temple prostitution or other sexual immorality as part of the feast. Some of these cults involved mystical aspects as well. It is often pointed out by scholars that trade guilds generally had patron deities associated with their guild and would require their members to participate in such religious rituals. Thyatira’s purple dye industry presumably had such a guild and there were surely others too. Surely, the name of Jezebel would be fitting to any who would try to get Christians to think they can participate in these things. Sadly, she did get some to participate, because verse 22 speaks of those who’ve participated in this with her, and her children referenced in verse 23 surely speak of her followers.
Jesus is clear. He is going to come and judge her and her followers. In his mercy, he says he has even given her time to repent. Apparently, there was yet some time left for her and her followers to repent since Jesus has this warning here. But Jesus promises to take strong action upon such evil apostasy.
Let us understand here that the church of Thyatira should have already taken action themselves against this. That is why Jesus says he has this against them, that they have tolerated this Jezebel. Many non-Christians today want Christians to practice tolerance even while they might not have tolerance for Christian teachings. Yes, there is a certain good form of tolerance that shows respect and kindness to others in light of the dignity of all humans as those created in the image of God. For example, we ought not to go around as vigilantes and murder false prophets or others we can’t agree with. But the church has been given a spiritual sword to cut off from its membership any who are such false prophets along with those who have chosen to follow them. That is what Thyatira failed to do here. This is an unbiblical form of tolerance. A little leaven can leaven the whole lump. They needed to condemn Jezebel’s false teachings and give her no place in the church to spew her lies. They needed to recognize how seductive her teaching was and look to protect the flock from it. They needed to call out her evil teachings as being the lies from Satan that they were. There is unbiblical tolerance that we need to reject.
Thyatira had failed in this, so Jesus is telling them that he will be coming against this church to clean house. He’ll be that refiners fire we spoke about. In the Old Testament, we saw God clean house but leave a remnant of the faithful. Jesus speaks to that remnant at Thyatira in verse 24. He encourages them and exhorts them to, “Hold fast,” until he comes. They need to hold on to the true faith while they await Jesus’ coming. So, we too take that message to heart.
The letter to Thyatira then closes with the promise that to the one who overcomes, they will enjoy authority with him over the nations. The language of this references Psalm 2 which speaks of the Messiah’s wrath and judgment of the nations. The original Jezebel was one from the nations who tried to take over the nation of God’s people and turn them to idolatry and immorality. Jesus promises that when we overcome such by persevering in faith, we will find that in the end we reign with Christ over the nations. Right now the nations might try to impose their power over us Christians, but Jesus encourages us in the might that we will have as those who rule with him in his coming kingdom. This same hope is given today. Let us have the courage to not tolerate false doctrine in the church in light of our hope in Christ. Let us be faithful to exercise church discipline to promote holiness in the church, for the wellbeing of the members and to the glory of God.
Let us now turn to the letter to Sardis, chapter 3, verses 1-6, dealing with nominal Christianity. This letter speaks to a city known for its seemingly impenetrable position located in a well-fortified position on top of a steep hill. At the same time, Sardis twice had been captured by surprise attacks (by the Persians then later by the Greeks), which would probably have been easily defeated if they had been properly vigilant and on the watch. That history seems to illustrate the spiritual need that we’ll see here in Sardis. So then, Jesus addresses this letter to Sardis’ angel, identifying himself as the one with the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Previously, we said the seven spirits describe the Holy Spirit, especially in his role of being the eyes of Christ sent out to watch over his churches. Likewise, the seven stars refer to the angels sent from heaven to watch over the churches. While the church in Sardis will need a wake up call to spiritually watch over themselves, they are first reminded here of how Jesus is spiritually watching over them through the Spirit and his holy angels.
The body of the letter to Sardis then begins in verse 1 with the words, “I know,” where he describes their situation. Sadly, this is one of the two letters where Jesus gives them no positive commendation. He has nothing good to say about them. Indeed, look at how serious of an accusation he makes against them there. He says they have a good reputation, but it’s not an accurate one. They have the reputation of being spiritually alive but they are actually spiritually dead. When you hear the language of reputation, think of the idea of one’s name. They have a good name as Christians go. In other words, in the Christian circles, people think they are doing well spiritually, that they are Christians. But they actually aren’t. Their Christianity is a fake. It has the outward name. It surely looks correct outwardly, at least for the moment. But it’s not genuine. Isaiah 29:13 describes this condition, when Isaiah spoke of how in his day the people would draw near to God with their mouth and honor God with their lips, but their hearts were actually far from God. There can be someone who embraces all the outward forms of Christianity, without truly being born again. You could say it is Christian “in name only”. That is the literal definition of nominal Christianity.
Not only does Jesus describe their condition in terms of being spiritually alive or dead, he also speaks in terms of being awake or asleep. Verse 2 transitions to this different metaphor to describe their condition. Jesus tells them they need to wake up and strengthen what is about to die. Jesus goes on in the letter to warn if they don’t wake up, then they are going to find his coming like a thief in the night. In other words, they will be caught unprepared when he returns, so that he comes in judgment against them instead of in salvation for them. So, the spiritual metaphor of “waking up” calls those who profess Christ to remain vigilant. They need to watch over themselves to see that they are keeping the faith.
Jesus’ parable of the sower helps us understand more of what is going on here. In that parable, some of the scattered seed looks at first like it is genuine, but only over time do you learn its true condition. Some seed can show some initial signs of growth but eventually shows that it wasn’t planted in good soil. In retrospect, we can realize that such people have never truly known the Lord, even if at first it may have looked like they did. The metaphors of being spiritually dead and spiritually asleep can describe someone who has never been regenerated.
Yet, that language also gives out hope. Yes, some in such an apparent state have never truly known the Lord. But others have truly known the Lord but have started to fall asleep on the watch. That is why Jesus calls them in verse 2 to not only wake up but to strengthen what remains and is about to die. That’s why Jesus goes on to say that they need to remember back to what they had previously received and to repent and return to what they heard. Jesus’ strong warning here will have these two effects. For those who aren’t truly Christian but just going through the motions, they are mercifully warned here. For those who are true believers but are in danger of falling away through their increasingly nominal Christianity, this is the wake up call they need to rouse them awake and enliven their faith.
Jesus also in this letter acknowledges a remnant among Sardis. See verse 4 and how he continues the idea of reputation by mentioning that there are a few “names” in Sardis. The church is not entirely apostate, despite how bleak the circumstances are. Interestingly, Jesus describes this faithful remnant as people who haven’t soiled their garments. This implies that the nominal Christians have soiled garments. But if you think about the nominal Christian, such a person outwardly dresses up like this is not the case. Like how Jesus described the Pharisees as whitewashed tombs, looking beautiful on the outside, but full of death on the inside. The nominal Christian presents themselves for others to see as those who wear white garments, but Jesus implies here that it’s a façade. The nominal Christian really has soiled garments of which they have no power to clean by their fake faith. But to the remnant there at Sardis, he encourages us that they God has heard of their genuine reputation, of those who are truly alive in Christ, not living lives stained by the world.
The letter to Sardis then closes with the promise that to the one who overcomes, they will be clothed in white garments and their name will never be blotted out of the book of life. Again, we see the theme of name and reputation here brought to bear upon the Christian. When Jesus returns and brings this age to an end, our purification will be completed, as illustrated with the imagery of being given white robes. Indeed, future visions in Revelation will show the saints in glory so robed. The guilt of all our sin has already been put away, and he is washing us now to the goal of glory to be pure and spotless, holy and righteous children of God. The nominal Christian might outwardly dress up to look like a good Christian right now for others to see. But the true believers will find Christ will adorn us with the beauty of his righteousness. Likewise, the nominal Christian may have a name in this life, but the true believer can be encouraged that at the end, their name will be found in the Book of Life. The name of the nominal Christian will not be in there. When thinking about our spiritual reputation, let us seek to be seen not by men but by our Lord Jesus Christ, that we would have a good name to him.
Pause, and think of how nominal Christianity is seen too often in churches today. I think in some people become Christian because it is the cultural thing to do or maybe for the community or other benefits it provides. They claim the name of Christian but aren’t really Christian. The person themselves may or may not actually realize it. Some know they are putting on a show and while they may fool others, Jesus sees what is really in their heart. Others, have misunderstood what it truly means to be a Christian, and Jesus’ words here serve to call forth true conversion in their hearts. May we take the application today to recognize that nominal Christianity is actually counterfeit Christianity. Let us be spiritually alive and alert to the Christian life we have been called unto. As we are reminded here, it is all worth it!
In conclusion, let us bring together these two lessons today. Thyatira was guilty of unbiblical tolerance that invited compromise that would amount to spiritual adultery. Sardis suffered from nominal Christianity where they were Christians in name only, faithful only to the outward forms of religion. One could imagine that people who suffer from nominal Christianity might not suffer from unbiblical tolerance and vice versa. Yet, both issues are a serious threat and danger to the church. The application of Thyatira is that true Christians should practice church discipline. The application of Sardis is to no longer tolerate a fraudulent faith, but to wake up and strengthen their souls with the true life in Christ.
Let us examine ourselves today, both individually and as a church. Church discipline is painful but so important when orthodoxy is threatened. Likewise, nominal Christianity is a deception, let us live for the Lord not to please men. Both Thyatira and Sardis needed Jesus to refine them spiritually. Let us also look to Jesus for the help we need in addressing these concerns. He is the one who comes with his refining fire and who ministers to our spirits by the Holy Spirit and his holy angels.
Amen.
Copyright © 2024 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
