April 5 Don't Rock the boat

April 5

   Don’t Rock The Boat

Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;

but that it should be holy and without blemish.

The fourth church mentioned in Revelation chapter 2 is the church at Thyatira. As you read the 11 verses concerning this church you notice that the first verse contains a powerful description of Christ and the second verse lumps their good points together. The rest of the verses are condemnation and warning to this church.

They were almost the opposite of the great church in Ephesus “The 1^st Stone Hearted Orthodox Church”.  Ephesus hated the deeds of those who held false doctrine, but they had lost their first love.  

The Church at Thyatira was long on love and short on doctrinal purity.

Re 2:19 I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

This was a hard working church filled with love. While praised for these good things they were condemned for lack of discernment. Sort of like a youth minister who gave his teens potato chips and coke for communion, but far more serious a fault.

Re 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

The scriptures are pretty clear about women teachers.

1Ti 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to

usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

If you do not agree with this verse or think there is something else in the Bible that makes this verse null and void, please do not yell at me. I am the messenger. Go yell at Timothy, or better yet explain to God why this verse is wrong!

Thyatira had a woman teacher, who claimed to be a prophetess. I think that means she got special messages from God and told her followers what God said to her. Somewhat like Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy and Christian Science. (Apparently she knew more about healing than she did men!)

It seems that Christ did not care for her and gave her the title of Jezabel, in reference to a the Jezabel of 1 Kings 16 and 2 Kings 19. Now there was a bad woman. She killed prophets, murdered a guy for his vineyard, promoted Baal worship and had Ahab the King under her thumb.

It seems this lady…ooops…woman of Thyatira was just as bad.

The Romans had Venus, the Greeks Aphrodite, and the middle east of biblical times had the Babylonian Ishtar and the Phoenician/Syrian Ashtoreth.  The names aren’t important. They all were goddesses of fertility. Now if you are going to worship an idol of fertility what do you think happened at those temples? Does temple prostitute give you a clue?  Christ had some things against this church. That was one of them “…to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. “ 

There was a lady in this church that was violating several Bible restrictions i.e. Woman teacher, false prophetess, claiming new revelations from God, violating commandments against idol worship, fornication and who knows what else she was doing. But that was not Christ’s reason for having a few things against that church. Oh, he wasn’t happy with her but the verse clearly points to what really concerned Christ about this church.

Re 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee,

because thou sufferest that woman…

They were putting up with her. What kind of people let such evil continue in church without standing up and denouncing it?  Where was the pastor, the deacons, the mature Christians?  Oh they were there and Christ addresses them later and explains he won’t require any more from them as long as they don’t get caught up in the evil doctrine in that church. Christ may have realized the church was too far gone for the faithful to correct the situation, or understood they were not capable of doing so.

Unfortunately the same thing is happening in our churches today. The culture of the world seeps in and no one takes the Sword of the Word and drives it out. It is like boiling a frog. It happens so slowly no one objects until it is too late. What specifically am I referring to?

I am writing this a couple days before Easter. Have you ever wondered why businesses connect Easter with rabbits and eggs? It’s not a new thing. Fertility cults did that for centuries.  Some churches even give out Easter baskets. Is that to remember the resurrection?

What about contemporary services in churches?  That term has always bothered me because no one explains what the service is contemporary with?  I checked Mr. Webster and he said contemporary means things happen at the same time. Like George Washington and John Adams were contemporaries. So my question about contemporary services is what are they contemporary with. I know that means they have lively music, even rock bands, and a less formal style of worship, so I guess that means contemporary church services are contemporary with the world . No wonder they are so popular.

OK so you don’t agree with either example I have just given.

I will skip over the churches today that express great love and acceptance for Sodomites. (Homosexuals) and are silent about unmarried people cohabiting. (Oh dear now I am rocking the boat!)  

But can you deny that our churches today tolerate much that is outside of Scripture and in some cases unscriptural. That is the point of our devotion today. Just as Thyatira put up with a false prophet woman who seduced people to follow her deeper spiritual paganism, our churches also tolerate things that should not be.

One final reminder. Christ was not so unhappy with her as he was with those who tolerated her presence in the church. Let us exam what we tolerate. How often have we kept silent when we should have spoken. How much has the philosophy of the world system tarnished our obedience to the Word of God and weakened our churches.  As you meditate on that consider the standard you should use. The church without spot, or wrinkle, or blemish.

Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing;

but that it should be holy and without blemish.