Contaminated Relationship
Revelation 2:18-29
Message #6
Don’t let anything contaminate your relationship with Jesus.
Here’s a definition of “Contaminate.”
“To make something impure by the addition of a polluting substance.”
Don’t make your relationship with Jesus impure by adding any polluting substance.
We continue our look at the seven letters to the seven Churches. Remember, these seven letters were written to seven actual churches. But these seven letters also have a prophetic perspective, and if you look at Church history from the time of the Apostles to today, these seven letters speak to the general condition of the Church in seven distinct historical time periods of the Church.
But most importantly, they are written to you and me personally. Let’s pray we would have ears to hear what the Spirit says.
We’re in our fourth church today – Thyatira. So, in light of our title, Contaminated Relationship, let’s review the churches so far to see the progression.
Ephesus hated any potential compromise
Smyrna grew strong under physical persecution
Pergamum began to compromise and eventually married the world
Thyatira – that compromise becomes full-scale contamination
And that progression is often similar in our lives.
First, we reject any potential compromise
Then, we flirt with and ultimately marry compromise
Then that compromise contaminates our relationship with Jesus Christ
And so, as we begin the letter, remember Jesus uses a description of himself in each of the letters that directly relate to his message for that particular church.
Revelation 2:18 (NLT)
18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
The omniscient Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire that see right into the heart of the Church and right into our hearts, and he is going to say to this church – I know your heart.
And then what should be even more concerning, Jesus says he’s coming with feet like polished bronze, which is a clear representation of Jesus coming prepared for judgment.
But to every Church where it’s at all possible, Jesus begins with some type of encouragement.
Revelation 2:19 (NLT)
19 “I know all the things you do (I know your works). I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
That’s some good encouragement, right? We would call this type of church a social church, like a social service church. This was a church of good community service. They were at work for the good of those around them. And they performed their service of meeting physical needs with love and faith, and endurance.
But – does Jesus want just our actions? Or does Jesus want our heart? Does Jesus want you to just help those around you with their physical or material needs? Or does Jesus want your helping to be a conduit “through which” those people can see Jesus and receive eternal life through faith in him?
Jesus wants our heart and their heart because Jesus wants a real relationship of faith and trust with us because Jesus knows the trials of this life are temporary, but eternity is forever.
So, the church in Thyatira was doing “good deeds,” and they were doing them well. But the Son of God, who has eyes like flames of fire, KNEW that their relationship with him was being contaminated.
And so, in verse 20, we have that “startling transition word” BUT
Revelation 2:20 (NLT)
20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.
Jesus says, you have love, and you have good service, BUT your relationship with me is being contaminated, and you should be very fearful. Guys, our God is a personal God. Our God Is not a God of a religious system. Our God did not come to start a religious system; he came personally. He came personally to Abraham. He came personally to Moses. He came personally to David. He came in the Person of Jesus Christ. Our God is a personal relationship God.
Four of the Ten Commandments – the first four – are regarding our personal relationship with God. The other six are regarding our personal relationships with others because our God is a personal God.
And the Bible is very clear when we put our full faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior and our Lord, he comes to live inside of us!! He gives us his very life!!
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible makes it clear that our God is a “personal relationship” God, and when we “take in” anything that pollutes that pure relationship that Jesus Christ died to give us – a personal relationship – then we have a contaminated relationship.
And the enemy of our souls will do anything and everything he can to contaminate our pure relationship with Jesus Christ. The life of Christ is living inside you, and the power that raised Jesus from the dead is coming out of you. Your enemy wants to contaminate that. He wants to pour a polluting substance into that to contaminate it, to take you out, and to take others out with you. That’s the enemy’s goal.
And that is what Jesus is talking about in verse 20. Jezebel was a real person in the time of the Kings and in the time of Elijah. But her name became synonymous with people or systems that polluted and contaminated with the people of God and led them away from their relationship with God. Maybe you have heard someone say, “Oh, she’s a real Jezebel.” That’s not a compliment. Maybe even you’ve heard of “the spirit of Jezebel,” even in the Bible.
The sexual sin that verse 20 talks about, you’ll see as I continue that God frequently refers to our spiritual adultery as sexual adultery. (That’s why last week’s message was “Spiritual Polygamy.” Marrying two wives – the world and the Church.) As we continue through Revelation, you will see that the Holy Spirit refers to the religious system that is part of the end times and not on God’s side, referred to as a woman or with female terms. You’ll see it all the way through Revelation. Those things cause us to see this Jezebel as a reference to the religious system that brings spiritual adultery and idolatry into the Church.
Ahab (one of Israel’s most wicked Kings) married Jezebel, and Jezebel’s father was a Priest of Ashtaroth, who was the primary goddess of fertility. Really, she was the goddess of sex. Her counterpart, Baal, was the male god of fertility, also more of sex. Worship services for Ashtaroth always included something sexual, and so the services were very well attended. And Jezebel’s goal in the Nation of Israel was to bring the pagan worship of both Ashtaroth and Baal into the lives of the People of God. She brought poison in, and she contaminated that relationship with spiritual adultery and idolatry.
That’s what Jezebel did. That’s why we see this term “like a Jezebel” referring to a system that absolutely controls the people within a religious environment.
And so, she got the King of Israel to build temples to the sex goddess, and he put her in charge of it all. And she got the king to financially support 800 prophets of Astaroth and Baal, and eventually, Jezebel had a stranglehold on the people of God.
By seducing God’s people into idolatry and sin, Jezebel contaminated the People’s relationship with God by inserting a polluting substance into that relationship.
And now, in Thyatira, the enemy is successfully using “the Jezebel approach” again. The first Jezebel completely contaminated the People’s relationship with God, and the church in Thyatira was again allowing “a Jezebel” to contaminate their relationship with God, and today, the exact same thing is still happening.
And Jesus has some of his strongest words of judgment for the church that is allowing this to happen; it’s Thyatira there, it’s the period Thyatira represents, and it’s us personally.
Revelation 2:21–22 (NLT)
21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
This is such a powerful verse. Listen, this is how we believe this Jezebel was not a single person. This is most likely talking about the Great Tribulation. As we continue in the Book of Revelation, we’ll see this brought up again.
22 “Therefore, I will throw her (this religious system) on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly (it’s almost has to be spiritual adultery because how many people could commit physical adultery with one person. Jesus is talking in much bigger terms.) unless they repent (if you are still alive, you have a chance to repent from the things that are bringing the judgment of God) and turn away from her evil deeds.
Seeing Jezebel as a “system of contamination” in the Church makes it easy to see that Jesus is talking about spiritual adultery. And Jesus will always give us time to repent from our spiritual adultery. The problem is we never know when our time is up!
And here in verse 22, this is our first reference to the Great Tribulation. As Jesus says, those in the Church who embrace the contamination of Jezebel and do not repent of it will be thrown on a bed of suffering and will suffer greatly with the “spiritual adultery system” of Jezebel. THAT is some serious judgment, and Jesus isn’t finished.
And in verse 23, we really get a confirmation that we are talking about a spiritual system that is polluting the Church’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus continues the warning of judgment in verse 23.
Revelation 2:23 (NLT)
23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions (the heart) of every person. (Do you see the individual, personal, direct approach there? I am the one with the eyes of fire that searches out the thoughts and intentions of every single person.) And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
Now, again, how many physical children could one person have, and would Jesus write a letter to just however many kids… These “children of Jezebel” are most likely those that have embraced this spiritual system that Jesus calls Jezebel.
We deserve the righteous wrath of God upon sin. We do. God cannot be God if he doesn’t judge sin. We deserve that. And so, we have two ways to face that. One is, we say, “Well, you know, when I show up at the Pearly Gates, I’m gonna tell Peter a joke – that’ll get him going in the right direction. And then I’m going to say, Hey. Peter, I’m a pretty good guy! I’ve helped out some people. You should let me in.”
First of all, you’re not going to meet Peter at the Pearly Gates. And you’re not going to have wings and float on a cloud either, or play a harp. All that stuff is of the world. There can be no sin in the presence of God. So, we deserve to be separated from God.
However, God came in our place, in the Person of Jesus Christ. And he took all of our sins upon himself. And he paid the complete price for our sins in our place as if we would have paid them ourselves. And he conquered those sins, and he conquered death, and the grave. And when he rose, we rose in his righteousness. And so now, we are seen as righteous in Christ. And so, what do we deserve as righteous in Christ? We deserve to be joint heirs with Christ, which we are. And so, in Christ, we deserve the righteousness that is Christ. Outside of Christ, we deserve the wrath of God on our sin.
Jesus wants our hearts in genuine belief and faith, and he doesn’t want anything to contaminate our relationship with him.
So, let’s address the prophetic perspective of the Church of Thyatira. The church of Thyatira represents the period of Church history in the Middle Ages from the 500’s to the 1500’s. A portion of this time period is called the Dark Ages because it was very, very dark. Although these 1,000 years are divided up into three time periods by historians, there was only one church, and that church had a stranglehold on the religious world for that entire 1,000 years.
In our last letter (last week), Constantine married the church to the Roman government (in the 300’s). But, the marriage of the Church and the State that Constantine started in the previous time period grew completely out of control in the time represented by Thyatira. During these 1000 dark years, the Church had absolute control over every area of life, and the Church absolutely abused that control.
Just on the spiritual side, let me list ten things that were inserted into the church and made to be absolute religious requirements during this time – and each one contributed to the contamination of the People’s relationship with God. These became religious requirements in the Middle Ages. They are not in the Bible. They are not in the time of the Apostles; they are not in the time of the early Church fathers; they weren’t even in the time of Constantine in the 300’s when the Church married the world. They are in the Middle Ages (the Dark Ages). That’s when they started, and they contaminated the Church’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
1. Justification by works—Not by grace through faith; That started in the Church in the Middle Ages; it’s not about grace, it’s not about salvation by faith, it’s about work. You’ve got to work your way to Heaven. It’s not in the Bible.
2. Baptismal regeneration—That a person is saved by baptism; Being saved by baptism in “the Church.” That’s why I told you about the baptism. The baptism is a response about something that has already occurred inside of us. The Bible does not teach anywhere that someone is saved by baptism. It’s not in the Bible.
3. Worship of & Praying to Saints & other Idols. Started in the Middle Ages. Not in the Bible. Not in the Apostle’s time. Not in the early Church Father’s time. In the Dark Ages. Now, in the 300’s Constantine took over the temples, mostly the temples of Venus, and he left the idols in them, and he did change their names to Christian names. But the Church of the Middle Ages went off on it. It’s not in the Bible. It’s added to the Bible. You have to decide whether that is something that polluted or contaminated the Bible’s singular call to have a real, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
4. Celibacy—Forbidding priests to marry (elevating the priesthood) Started in the Church in the Middle Ages, and that created damage. The point was to elevate priests above the lay people, and celibacy was part of that process to make a two-tier system. The Nicolaitans brought that in from the pagan temple. It’s not in the Bible.
5. Confessionalism—Where sins are confessed to a priest who has the power to “absolve” you of those sins. That started in the Middle Ages. That is so unbiblical that it’s mind-boggling. It’s not in the Bible.
6. Purgatory—A place where your holiness is completed before you can go to heaven. Why would they do that? It’s for the next thing. (It’s not in the Bible.)
8. Indulgences—Where through the giving of money to the church, a person’s time in purgatory could be reduced. This started in the Middle Ages. This is just wild!!! And it’s not in the Bible.
9. Penance—Involving the torment of one’s body in order to reduce time in purgatory. A lot of monks and orders of priests got down this road pretty far. It’s not in the Bible.
All of this, by the way, is designed to control people. And I’m sorry, but it is. And if you look at the history of the Middle Ages you can see that it worked really well. The Church really controlled the people.
7. Transubstantiation—The bread and cup becoming the actual body & blood – creating a “continual sacrifice.” This is contrary to everything in the New Testament. When Jesus cried out, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished! The work is done!” he died once for all. (This one has a special ire in my heart.) Here’s the bigger problem with the bread and the cup. There is this intensity because of this unbiblical (and prior to the Middle Ages) unheard-of idea of making the bread and the cup the actual body and blood of Christ, and then only giving that to the people who deserve it. The implication (if not the flat out statement is) that “if you don’t get to take communion, you don’t get to go to Heaven. That’s the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and if we forbid you from that, then chances are, you’re not getting in because you can’t take communion.” So, what are they doing? They’re using the threat of eternal damnation to control people.
Here’s why it’s so personal to me. My stepdad was mad at God his whole life that I knew him – pretty angry because his first wife left him. Nothing to his fault. He was a committed member of this church. And when the Church told him he could no longer commune with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, it implied that he was going to hell. And so, he use those same words back to God, back to the Church. It’s hardcore. I promise you from the bottom of my heart these things were entered into the Church in the Middle Ages to control the people, and they were. They’re not in the Bible. They’re not in the time of the Apostles; they’re not in the early Church fathers – they don’t come around until the Middle Ages. That’s why we call them the Dark Ages.
10. Mariolatry—The worship of Mary and making her Deity – as the Mother Of God - & The Queen of Heaven. (Now, you might think I am talking about one particular Church.)
Guys, with all love and respect, none of these things are in the Bible. And ninety-eight percent of the people who adhere to these things don’t know why. They say, well, it’s Church history. It’s Church tradition. The guy that is elevated above all of us said that.
All ten of these things took control of the Church in the Middle Ages. It started in the period represented by Thyatira. All ten of these things are referred to as the “Sin of Jezebel” because they brought spiritual adultery and idolatry into the Church, which is exactly what the original Jezebel did to Israel.
My strong encouragement to you is to read the Bible. There is nothing on earth that compares to the supernatural, miraculous proof of the Bible. Nothing. And the Bible says to seek a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Everything else is a religious system that may or may not be designed to control you for the religious system’s benefit. It’s not just the one Church, by the way. You see it in every Church system that controls its people. Jesus. Just give me Jesus. Because that’s what the Bible says I need – I need Jesus!
And listen, let me just say one thing. I haven’t said the word “catholic” yet because a charismatic Catholic (a big thing in the 70’s – Catholics who were full of the Spirit) led me to the Lord. When I was 19 years old, one of my best friends, his family, was used by the Lord to get me saved.
I’m not bashing all of anybody. I am telling you that the Church in the Middle Ages did exactly what Jezebel did in the Age of the Kings. They poured things that polluted and contaminated and compromised the Church’s commitment to Jesus Christ. And people began to be more concerned about following the Church’s religious system than following Jesus Christ.
But there is some Good News. It was not every person in the Church of Thyatira who was contaminating their relationship with Jesus by embracing the religious system of Jezebel.
Here is what Jesus says to the faithful remnant in Thyatira and in the church today.
Revelation 2:24–25 (NLT)
24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you
25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.
That is Good News from Jesus Christ!! He makes it clear this religious system of spiritual adultery and idolatry is really bad news. But Jesus says, “Just hold on to what you have.” “Hold on to your genuine relationship with me.” Just stay away from that false teaching and love me. Hold on to what you have until I come.
In Thyatira, there was a faithful remnant that was holding fast to Jesus Christ alone.
And no matter what happens, may you and I be known as the faithful remnant – holding fast to Christ alone.
And now comes the reward to those who hold fast to Christ.
Revelation 2:26 (NLT)
26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.
This is not authority in our flesh. This is not authority in our ego, self-centeredness. In the Millennium, we who are caught up in the rapture or died before the rapture or before the return, we return with Christ in Revelation 19 to set up the Millennium. Which means we return in glorified bodies with the glorified spirit.
This is most likely a reference to us ruling and reigning with Jesus on the earth during the Millennium. But notice, there is a connection between how we handle things here and what we’ll be given there. Say NO to the world and YES to Christ here, and you will rule with Christ there.
Revelation 2:27-28 (NLT)
27 They (the ones who are victorious) will rule (shepherd) the nations with an iron rod (scepter) and smash them like clay pots.
28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
This is an incredible statement. But we’re talking about a time in the Millennium when we will be ruling with Jesus in glorified bodies, which means we will be ruling in his righteousness -not in our sin nature.
Jesus Christ IS the morning star. So, for him to say I will give them the morning star!, he’s saying I will give them myself – and there is no greater reward than Jesus Christ himself. He will give those who are victorious himself. He is the hidden Manna of abundant life, and he, himself, is our greatest reward for all eternity.
And so, Jesus closes this letter like he does all seven.
Revelation 2:29 (NLT)
29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
If you have a real relationship of belief and faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, don’t allow your life with Jesus to be contaminated by things that pollute or poison your relationship with him.
Don’t let all the spiritual adultery and idolatry of Jezebel trick you into compromising your relationship of faith in and love for Jesus. Hold on to your faithful relationship with Christ and grow in your knowledge and love of him.
And if you have embraced a religious system that contaminates your pure relationship with Jesus or keeps you from having that relationship, turn from putting your faith in a religious system and put your full faith and trust in Jesus, personally, making him your Lord and Savior. And you will freely receive abundant and eternal life in a real relationship with Jesus Christ alone!
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Here’s a definition of “Contaminate.”
“To make something impure by the addition of a polluting substance.”
Don’t make your relationship with Jesus impure by adding any polluting substance.
We continue our look at the seven letters to the seven Churches. Remember, these seven letters were written to seven actual churches. But these seven letters also have a prophetic perspective, and if you look at Church history from the time of the Apostles to today, these seven letters speak to the general condition of the Church in seven distinct historical time periods of the Church.
But most importantly, they are written to you and me personally. Let’s pray we would have ears to hear what the Spirit says.
We’re in our fourth church today – Thyatira. So, in light of our title, Contaminated Relationship, let’s review the churches so far to see the progression.
Ephesus hated any potential compromise
Smyrna grew strong under physical persecution
Pergamum began to compromise and eventually married the world
Thyatira – that compromise becomes full-scale contamination
And that progression is often similar in our lives.
First, we reject any potential compromise
Then, we flirt with and ultimately marry compromise
Then that compromise contaminates our relationship with Jesus Christ
And so, as we begin the letter, remember Jesus uses a description of himself in each of the letters that directly relate to his message for that particular church.
Revelation 2:18 (NLT)
18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
The omniscient Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire that see right into the heart of the Church and right into our hearts, and he is going to say to this church – I know your heart.
And then what should be even more concerning, Jesus says he’s coming with feet like polished bronze, which is a clear representation of Jesus coming prepared for judgment.
But to every Church where it’s at all possible, Jesus begins with some type of encouragement.
Revelation 2:19 (NLT)
19 “I know all the things you do (I know your works). I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
That’s some good encouragement, right? We would call this type of church a social church, like a social service church. This was a church of good community service. They were at work for the good of those around them. And they performed their service of meeting physical needs with love and faith, and endurance.
But – does Jesus want just our actions? Or does Jesus want our heart? Does Jesus want you to just help those around you with their physical or material needs? Or does Jesus want your helping to be a conduit “through which” those people can see Jesus and receive eternal life through faith in him?
Jesus wants our heart and their heart because Jesus wants a real relationship of faith and trust with us because Jesus knows the trials of this life are temporary, but eternity is forever.
So, the church in Thyatira was doing “good deeds,” and they were doing them well. But the Son of God, who has eyes like flames of fire, KNEW that their relationship with him was being contaminated.
And so, in verse 20, we have that “startling transition word” BUT
Revelation 2:20 (NLT)
20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.
Jesus says, you have love, and you have good service, BUT your relationship with me is being contaminated, and you should be very fearful. Guys, our God is a personal God. Our God Is not a God of a religious system. Our God did not come to start a religious system; he came personally. He came personally to Abraham. He came personally to Moses. He came personally to David. He came in the Person of Jesus Christ. Our God is a personal relationship God.
Four of the Ten Commandments – the first four – are regarding our personal relationship with God. The other six are regarding our personal relationships with others because our God is a personal God.
And the Bible is very clear when we put our full faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior and our Lord, he comes to live inside of us!! He gives us his very life!!
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible makes it clear that our God is a “personal relationship” God, and when we “take in” anything that pollutes that pure relationship that Jesus Christ died to give us – a personal relationship – then we have a contaminated relationship.
And the enemy of our souls will do anything and everything he can to contaminate our pure relationship with Jesus Christ. The life of Christ is living inside you, and the power that raised Jesus from the dead is coming out of you. Your enemy wants to contaminate that. He wants to pour a polluting substance into that to contaminate it, to take you out, and to take others out with you. That’s the enemy’s goal.
And that is what Jesus is talking about in verse 20. Jezebel was a real person in the time of the Kings and in the time of Elijah. But her name became synonymous with people or systems that polluted and contaminated with the people of God and led them away from their relationship with God. Maybe you have heard someone say, “Oh, she’s a real Jezebel.” That’s not a compliment. Maybe even you’ve heard of “the spirit of Jezebel,” even in the Bible.
The sexual sin that verse 20 talks about, you’ll see as I continue that God frequently refers to our spiritual adultery as sexual adultery. (That’s why last week’s message was “Spiritual Polygamy.” Marrying two wives – the world and the Church.) As we continue through Revelation, you will see that the Holy Spirit refers to the religious system that is part of the end times and not on God’s side, referred to as a woman or with female terms. You’ll see it all the way through Revelation. Those things cause us to see this Jezebel as a reference to the religious system that brings spiritual adultery and idolatry into the Church.
Ahab (one of Israel’s most wicked Kings) married Jezebel, and Jezebel’s father was a Priest of Ashtaroth, who was the primary goddess of fertility. Really, she was the goddess of sex. Her counterpart, Baal, was the male god of fertility, also more of sex. Worship services for Ashtaroth always included something sexual, and so the services were very well attended. And Jezebel’s goal in the Nation of Israel was to bring the pagan worship of both Ashtaroth and Baal into the lives of the People of God. She brought poison in, and she contaminated that relationship with spiritual adultery and idolatry.
That’s what Jezebel did. That’s why we see this term “like a Jezebel” referring to a system that absolutely controls the people within a religious environment.
And so, she got the King of Israel to build temples to the sex goddess, and he put her in charge of it all. And she got the king to financially support 800 prophets of Astaroth and Baal, and eventually, Jezebel had a stranglehold on the people of God.
By seducing God’s people into idolatry and sin, Jezebel contaminated the People’s relationship with God by inserting a polluting substance into that relationship.
And now, in Thyatira, the enemy is successfully using “the Jezebel approach” again. The first Jezebel completely contaminated the People’s relationship with God, and the church in Thyatira was again allowing “a Jezebel” to contaminate their relationship with God, and today, the exact same thing is still happening.
And Jesus has some of his strongest words of judgment for the church that is allowing this to happen; it’s Thyatira there, it’s the period Thyatira represents, and it’s us personally.
Revelation 2:21–22 (NLT)
21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
This is such a powerful verse. Listen, this is how we believe this Jezebel was not a single person. This is most likely talking about the Great Tribulation. As we continue in the Book of Revelation, we’ll see this brought up again.
22 “Therefore, I will throw her (this religious system) on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly (it’s almost has to be spiritual adultery because how many people could commit physical adultery with one person. Jesus is talking in much bigger terms.) unless they repent (if you are still alive, you have a chance to repent from the things that are bringing the judgment of God) and turn away from her evil deeds.
Seeing Jezebel as a “system of contamination” in the Church makes it easy to see that Jesus is talking about spiritual adultery. And Jesus will always give us time to repent from our spiritual adultery. The problem is we never know when our time is up!
And here in verse 22, this is our first reference to the Great Tribulation. As Jesus says, those in the Church who embrace the contamination of Jezebel and do not repent of it will be thrown on a bed of suffering and will suffer greatly with the “spiritual adultery system” of Jezebel. THAT is some serious judgment, and Jesus isn’t finished.
And in verse 23, we really get a confirmation that we are talking about a spiritual system that is polluting the Church’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus continues the warning of judgment in verse 23.
Revelation 2:23 (NLT)
23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions (the heart) of every person. (Do you see the individual, personal, direct approach there? I am the one with the eyes of fire that searches out the thoughts and intentions of every single person.) And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
Now, again, how many physical children could one person have, and would Jesus write a letter to just however many kids… These “children of Jezebel” are most likely those that have embraced this spiritual system that Jesus calls Jezebel.
We deserve the righteous wrath of God upon sin. We do. God cannot be God if he doesn’t judge sin. We deserve that. And so, we have two ways to face that. One is, we say, “Well, you know, when I show up at the Pearly Gates, I’m gonna tell Peter a joke – that’ll get him going in the right direction. And then I’m going to say, Hey. Peter, I’m a pretty good guy! I’ve helped out some people. You should let me in.”
First of all, you’re not going to meet Peter at the Pearly Gates. And you’re not going to have wings and float on a cloud either, or play a harp. All that stuff is of the world. There can be no sin in the presence of God. So, we deserve to be separated from God.
However, God came in our place, in the Person of Jesus Christ. And he took all of our sins upon himself. And he paid the complete price for our sins in our place as if we would have paid them ourselves. And he conquered those sins, and he conquered death, and the grave. And when he rose, we rose in his righteousness. And so now, we are seen as righteous in Christ. And so, what do we deserve as righteous in Christ? We deserve to be joint heirs with Christ, which we are. And so, in Christ, we deserve the righteousness that is Christ. Outside of Christ, we deserve the wrath of God on our sin.
Jesus wants our hearts in genuine belief and faith, and he doesn’t want anything to contaminate our relationship with him.
So, let’s address the prophetic perspective of the Church of Thyatira. The church of Thyatira represents the period of Church history in the Middle Ages from the 500’s to the 1500’s. A portion of this time period is called the Dark Ages because it was very, very dark. Although these 1,000 years are divided up into three time periods by historians, there was only one church, and that church had a stranglehold on the religious world for that entire 1,000 years.
In our last letter (last week), Constantine married the church to the Roman government (in the 300’s). But, the marriage of the Church and the State that Constantine started in the previous time period grew completely out of control in the time represented by Thyatira. During these 1000 dark years, the Church had absolute control over every area of life, and the Church absolutely abused that control.
Just on the spiritual side, let me list ten things that were inserted into the church and made to be absolute religious requirements during this time – and each one contributed to the contamination of the People’s relationship with God. These became religious requirements in the Middle Ages. They are not in the Bible. They are not in the time of the Apostles; they are not in the time of the early Church fathers; they weren’t even in the time of Constantine in the 300’s when the Church married the world. They are in the Middle Ages (the Dark Ages). That’s when they started, and they contaminated the Church’s personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
1. Justification by works—Not by grace through faith; That started in the Church in the Middle Ages; it’s not about grace, it’s not about salvation by faith, it’s about work. You’ve got to work your way to Heaven. It’s not in the Bible.
2. Baptismal regeneration—That a person is saved by baptism; Being saved by baptism in “the Church.” That’s why I told you about the baptism. The baptism is a response about something that has already occurred inside of us. The Bible does not teach anywhere that someone is saved by baptism. It’s not in the Bible.
3. Worship of & Praying to Saints & other Idols. Started in the Middle Ages. Not in the Bible. Not in the Apostle’s time. Not in the early Church Father’s time. In the Dark Ages. Now, in the 300’s Constantine took over the temples, mostly the temples of Venus, and he left the idols in them, and he did change their names to Christian names. But the Church of the Middle Ages went off on it. It’s not in the Bible. It’s added to the Bible. You have to decide whether that is something that polluted or contaminated the Bible’s singular call to have a real, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
4. Celibacy—Forbidding priests to marry (elevating the priesthood) Started in the Church in the Middle Ages, and that created damage. The point was to elevate priests above the lay people, and celibacy was part of that process to make a two-tier system. The Nicolaitans brought that in from the pagan temple. It’s not in the Bible.
5. Confessionalism—Where sins are confessed to a priest who has the power to “absolve” you of those sins. That started in the Middle Ages. That is so unbiblical that it’s mind-boggling. It’s not in the Bible.
6. Purgatory—A place where your holiness is completed before you can go to heaven. Why would they do that? It’s for the next thing. (It’s not in the Bible.)
8. Indulgences—Where through the giving of money to the church, a person’s time in purgatory could be reduced. This started in the Middle Ages. This is just wild!!! And it’s not in the Bible.
9. Penance—Involving the torment of one’s body in order to reduce time in purgatory. A lot of monks and orders of priests got down this road pretty far. It’s not in the Bible.
All of this, by the way, is designed to control people. And I’m sorry, but it is. And if you look at the history of the Middle Ages you can see that it worked really well. The Church really controlled the people.
7. Transubstantiation—The bread and cup becoming the actual body & blood – creating a “continual sacrifice.” This is contrary to everything in the New Testament. When Jesus cried out, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished! The work is done!” he died once for all. (This one has a special ire in my heart.) Here’s the bigger problem with the bread and the cup. There is this intensity because of this unbiblical (and prior to the Middle Ages) unheard-of idea of making the bread and the cup the actual body and blood of Christ, and then only giving that to the people who deserve it. The implication (if not the flat out statement is) that “if you don’t get to take communion, you don’t get to go to Heaven. That’s the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and if we forbid you from that, then chances are, you’re not getting in because you can’t take communion.” So, what are they doing? They’re using the threat of eternal damnation to control people.
Here’s why it’s so personal to me. My stepdad was mad at God his whole life that I knew him – pretty angry because his first wife left him. Nothing to his fault. He was a committed member of this church. And when the Church told him he could no longer commune with the body and blood of Jesus Christ, it implied that he was going to hell. And so, he use those same words back to God, back to the Church. It’s hardcore. I promise you from the bottom of my heart these things were entered into the Church in the Middle Ages to control the people, and they were. They’re not in the Bible. They’re not in the time of the Apostles; they’re not in the early Church fathers – they don’t come around until the Middle Ages. That’s why we call them the Dark Ages.
10. Mariolatry—The worship of Mary and making her Deity – as the Mother Of God - & The Queen of Heaven. (Now, you might think I am talking about one particular Church.)
Guys, with all love and respect, none of these things are in the Bible. And ninety-eight percent of the people who adhere to these things don’t know why. They say, well, it’s Church history. It’s Church tradition. The guy that is elevated above all of us said that.
All ten of these things took control of the Church in the Middle Ages. It started in the period represented by Thyatira. All ten of these things are referred to as the “Sin of Jezebel” because they brought spiritual adultery and idolatry into the Church, which is exactly what the original Jezebel did to Israel.
My strong encouragement to you is to read the Bible. There is nothing on earth that compares to the supernatural, miraculous proof of the Bible. Nothing. And the Bible says to seek a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Everything else is a religious system that may or may not be designed to control you for the religious system’s benefit. It’s not just the one Church, by the way. You see it in every Church system that controls its people. Jesus. Just give me Jesus. Because that’s what the Bible says I need – I need Jesus!
And listen, let me just say one thing. I haven’t said the word “catholic” yet because a charismatic Catholic (a big thing in the 70’s – Catholics who were full of the Spirit) led me to the Lord. When I was 19 years old, one of my best friends, his family, was used by the Lord to get me saved.
I’m not bashing all of anybody. I am telling you that the Church in the Middle Ages did exactly what Jezebel did in the Age of the Kings. They poured things that polluted and contaminated and compromised the Church’s commitment to Jesus Christ. And people began to be more concerned about following the Church’s religious system than following Jesus Christ.
But there is some Good News. It was not every person in the Church of Thyatira who was contaminating their relationship with Jesus by embracing the religious system of Jezebel.
Here is what Jesus says to the faithful remnant in Thyatira and in the church today.
Revelation 2:24–25 (NLT)
24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you
25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come.
That is Good News from Jesus Christ!! He makes it clear this religious system of spiritual adultery and idolatry is really bad news. But Jesus says, “Just hold on to what you have.” “Hold on to your genuine relationship with me.” Just stay away from that false teaching and love me. Hold on to what you have until I come.
In Thyatira, there was a faithful remnant that was holding fast to Jesus Christ alone.
And no matter what happens, may you and I be known as the faithful remnant – holding fast to Christ alone.
And now comes the reward to those who hold fast to Christ.
Revelation 2:26 (NLT)
26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations.
This is not authority in our flesh. This is not authority in our ego, self-centeredness. In the Millennium, we who are caught up in the rapture or died before the rapture or before the return, we return with Christ in Revelation 19 to set up the Millennium. Which means we return in glorified bodies with the glorified spirit.
This is most likely a reference to us ruling and reigning with Jesus on the earth during the Millennium. But notice, there is a connection between how we handle things here and what we’ll be given there. Say NO to the world and YES to Christ here, and you will rule with Christ there.
Revelation 2:27-28 (NLT)
27 They (the ones who are victorious) will rule (shepherd) the nations with an iron rod (scepter) and smash them like clay pots.
28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
This is an incredible statement. But we’re talking about a time in the Millennium when we will be ruling with Jesus in glorified bodies, which means we will be ruling in his righteousness -not in our sin nature.
Jesus Christ IS the morning star. So, for him to say I will give them the morning star!, he’s saying I will give them myself – and there is no greater reward than Jesus Christ himself. He will give those who are victorious himself. He is the hidden Manna of abundant life, and he, himself, is our greatest reward for all eternity.
And so, Jesus closes this letter like he does all seven.
Revelation 2:29 (NLT)
29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
If you have a real relationship of belief and faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone, don’t allow your life with Jesus to be contaminated by things that pollute or poison your relationship with him.
Don’t let all the spiritual adultery and idolatry of Jezebel trick you into compromising your relationship of faith in and love for Jesus. Hold on to your faithful relationship with Christ and grow in your knowledge and love of him.
And if you have embraced a religious system that contaminates your pure relationship with Jesus or keeps you from having that relationship, turn from putting your faith in a religious system and put your full faith and trust in Jesus, personally, making him your Lord and Savior. And you will freely receive abundant and eternal life in a real relationship with Jesus Christ alone!
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.