Contending? or Contentious?

A collision happened in the early church in Antioch of Syria. It's a collision that has happened time and time again between people who disagree. In that case (Gal. 2:11) two of the most outstanding apostles, Peter and Paul, did battle. Paul states, "But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." In doing so Paul was entering on dangerous territory because many others in history had tried to do battle with their fellows, only to fail. Proverbs 26:21 reminds us that "as charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife." Those “who stir up dissension among brothers” (Proverbs 6:19) are on the same list of things the Lord hates. Contentious hearts look for things to criticize and for opportunities to tear down a person, program, or idea. They destroy the essential commodities of happy and productive relationships, i.e. trust, thinking the best of others, and loving attitudes. It’s no wonder that Paul warned the Christians in Galatia about the danger of this kind of talk. He wrote, “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15). We need to watch our attitudes with others. But Paul was doing just that and he entered into battle in order to restore Peter. Peter's compromise needed rebuke and Paul gave it. God is at work, even in the most trying circumstances; what could have been a tragedy, He used for His glory and for the strengthening of His church. By this Paul was our example of his exhortation in Galatians 6:1, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering theyself, lest thou also be tempted."

What a Lukewarm Christian Looks Like (Rev. 3:14-22)

Wasting their opportunity to influence their city, the congregation in Laodicea became like their city. The church took on the temperature of their surroundings. We call that lukewarmness. How cruel we are to the One who delivered us from this present evil world when our present life shows no difference from that world! We need to know how Christ views lukewarmness.

• First, He spoke unhappily about The Condition of Lukewarmness (3:14-15). Sadly, this was their condemnation because they could not see it. Christ’s verdict in verse 15 is the exact opposite of the church’s own evaluation and expectations. Their deeds were “neither cold nor hot.” That expression may refer to their lack of zeal (v. 19) or their uselessness, for Christ says, “I would thou wert cold or hot.” Be careful not to suppose that Christ meant I wish you were either spiritually cold (i.e., unsaved or hostile) or spiritually hot (i.e., alive and fervent). Could Christ ever wish someone were unsaved or hostile? Heavens, no! Don’t read our contemporary use of words into the vocabulary of first century Christians. They did not use the same terminology as we do today. We understand “hot” in spirituality to mean “on fire for the Lord.” But they didn’t. What they understood was the mixing of cold and hot to make “lukewarm.” That is to say, they were useless to Christ because they were complacent, self-satisfied, and indifferent to the real issues of faith in Him and of discipleship.

• Then, He spoke graphically about His Counter Reply to Lukewarmness (3:16). He says what the citizens of the city understood. Insipid water induces vomiting! And so Christ’s reaction is “I will spue thee out of my mouth.” That statement doesn’t take much interpretation. Christ hates a Laaodicean attitude of indifference to matters of faith. With such an attitude, He must deal harshly. To be a Christian means to be useful to Christ. But to be Laodicean means to be useless.

Why is this important? Lukewarmness can be a very self-deceiving spiritual state. The lukewarm ones may partially answer the call to the claims of the gospel. They may think it good form to be a Christian. They may marvel at something of God’s grace. They may profess to be believers, having been baptized and become members of the church. Some of them may even have confessed Christ as Savior and fallen into line in service as a duty, but they have not come to the place where they see the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Check out your spiritual life. Is Christ really your Savior and Lord?

• What is The Cause of Lukewarmness (3:17)? Startled at the intensity of Christ’s digust, we also ask, Can a genuine believer become lukewarm? Not likely. Christians are useful; lukewarm Christians are useless. It goes far beyond their indifference. Christ’s words in v. 17 indicate it is their ignorance. “Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” They were blind to their real condition. Observe the way this indictment is related to the general condition of the city – rich in material possessions and self-sufficient. The spirit of the surrounding culture had crept into the congregation and had paralyzed their spiritual life. It is difficult to know whether the church was boasting in its material wealth or in its spiritual wealth. Many commentators cannot conceive that it was material wealth but there are many saints today who measure their blessings from God by their material possessions. Nevertheless, they had misread their true condition. They are not, as they thought, “rich” and “have need of nothing.” They were in fact “wretched and miserable.” How can Christ say that? He explains by the next three words. They were “poor and blind and naked.” Contrast their condition with that of the saints in Smyrna who were very poor materially but rich spiritually (2:9). Lukewarmness, then, does not refer to the laxity of Christians but to the condition of not really knowing Christ as Savior and Lord and thus being useless to Him.

• Finally, let’s consider The Cure for Lukewarmness (Rev. 3:18-19). The Laodiceans could be helped only if they obeyed Christ’s commands: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” Notice that His three commands correspond exactly to the self-deceptions of the Laodiceans. “Gold” was the city’s source of wealth. The true Christian knows differently. His riches are found in Christ alone. Their shameful nakedness was to be clothed, not by purchasing the sleek, black wool of Laodicea but by buying from Christ the “white clothing” that alone can cover shameful nakedness (Rev. 16:15). For those who were blind to their true condition, the “Phrygian powder” was useless. They needed to buy “eyesalve” from Christ so that they could truly see. These three figures all point to the Laodiceans’ need of authentic salvation. All is not lost even though the state of the church verges on disaster. Christ refers to His “love” and associates that with His “rebuke” and “chastening.” Prov. 3:12; 1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 12:6 He spits out those He does not love and “rebukes” and disciplines those who hear His voice. The difference is in their response.

A Proud Church in a Proud Society (Rev. 3:14-22)

Pride was the fault of Nebuchadnezzar, the Old Testament Babylonian king (Dan. 4). Pride was the fault of Herod, the New Testament ruler of the Jews (Acts 12:21-23). As a result God made the first man insane and the second He killed Such judgment has happened many times over throughout history. The reason is God’s utter hatred for pride. “I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Prov. 8:13). In Revelation 3:14 the Lord Jesus is identified as “the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.” As such, to a proud church He appears with all certainty, finality and ultimate authority. The principle is just this: A people who are proud and think they need nobody’s help are a people who are doomed to failure.

• First, let us consider A city too rich and too proud for its own good (3:14). Of all the seven cities represented in our Lord’s letters to the churches one stood out for its wealth. That was Laodicea. They accumulated riches by becoming an important center of trade and communication. In addition, they produced a fine quality of famous glossy black wool. So wealthy was Laodicea that after the great earthquake of A.D. 17, which destroyed it, the people refused imperial help in rebuilding the city, choosing rather to do it entirely by themselves. Incidentally, they also had a famous school of medicine, and a special ointment known as “Phrygian powder,” famous for its cure of eye defects. However, their wealth could not change the fact that the city had poor water. It came from one of two sources, either from hot springs or from a cooler source. But both were over six miles away leaving the water lukewarm after traveling through a long aqueduct from those sources. Their wealth could not solve this water problem.

Why is this important? Many people think money can buy them anything, including happiness. No one questions the value of wealth. It provides us a dimension of well-being, security in the event of emergencies. However, it also provides the occasion to become self-sufficient and very proud. So, wealth could be our undoing. Mark Twain saw this at the end of the 19th century. He said, “The offspring of riches is pride, vanity, ostentation, arrogance and tyranny.” During that same era another great man, the Englishman Samuel Butler, stated, “The truest characters of ignorance are vanity, and pride and arrogance.” Our present society has become arrogant and proud in many ways. Does that make us ignorant to our precarious position? God says it does. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Prov. 16:18). We must learn that our wealth cannot buy us everything.

• But in that proud city is a church. That’s a good thing because the city needs some godly influences. Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth … Ye are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13-14). He then encourages His disciples to let their light so shine that men, in seeing the Christian’s good works, would then glorify God. But something was wrong with this church. It did not influence the city; the city influenced it and so we have … a lukewarm church. It was the same temperature as the city in which it lived.

And so, secondly, A church too rich and too proud for its own good (3:14-22). They even make the claim, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (3:17). How similar is that to the claim of the city! We must remember that money isn’t everything. Jesus continued His thought in Matt. 5:13 when He stated that believers are the salt of the earth, “But if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Remember, there is one thing the rich city could not improve on – their poor water. The same is true of the church. This church was lukewarm. We will reserve that thought for next week.

Why is this topic important? We cannot deny the fact: Our American churches are wealthy. How do we treat that? Is there any place in God’s plans for money? Can He approve of us if we have money? The answer is to be found in Luke 6:1-15. Practically every commentator agrees that the parable of the unjust steward refers to how wise ungodly men are in the use of their money for their temporal and finite needs. Without question the moral of the story is that Christians should make wise use of all of their resources for what is eternal and everlasting. It is also believed that the unjust steward had probably illegally charged these men interest which he buried in the initial debt, and intended to keep this money for himself. If this is correct, the steward was not reducing the amount his master was to receive. The master, in seeing the manner in which the steward relieved the burden of others to put others in his debt, commended the steward. As Christians, we should use our resources, both monetary and spiritual, to relieve the burdens of the poor and those in need so we may be well received into the kingdom of heaven. The whole point of teaching here is to appreciate values. The unjust steward began to value temporal things. We should value the good in spiritual and eternal things. The lord saw a valuable prudence in his steward. The Lord Jesus teaches us to look to the future—to invest in eternal securities. Our goods should be laid on the altar that we may have an abundant entrance into eternal life. We are not to trust in riches but are to use them as means to a desired end. If we trust in riches, we become a servant to mammon (money), a servant to the god of greed. If we trust in God the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, then we view our money as a gift of God and realize that the best use we can make of our money is to use it so others may be brought to Christ.

Verse for This Week: “I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech” (Prov. 8:13).

Your Step for This Week: Choose someone you know who is proud. Develop a list of what you see as symptoms of his pride and why he would be proud.

Prayer for This Week: Help me, Lord Jesus, to be humble in my service for You, not holding on to any wealth you have granted me but to use it for Your kingdom.

The Fallacy of Working One's Way Past Judgment (Rev. 2:18-29)

Every evil system has been founded on lies. The Nazis believed the lie of the superiority of the Nordic race; the Communists, the lie of the superiority of a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production; the abortionists, in the lie that fetuses are just tissue. The Church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) denied a final judgment and so the Judge of all men, the Lord Jesus Himself, addresses them as the One who knows the future. He unveils lies believed by many members, which lies encouraged them in their denial. We must understand some aspects of these lies so we don’t believe them.

I. First, consider the nature of the lies in Thyatira (2:19-20). Lies are spawned by hell and those who teach them or believe in them are in league with Satan (2:24) who is “a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

The first lie was that people who have a reputation for good service need not worry about final judgment (2:19). This lie is not seen by a cursory reading of Rev. 2:19. There is no question but that the Church in Thyatira had a reputation for being a hard-working church. Even the Lord Jesus commends them for that. He comments on their “deeds,” “love,” “faith,” “service,” and “perseverance.” What could be wrong with that? If it stood alone, nothing. But the context of an ungodly church should make us look more closely. Their love is agape love, a love that only Christians can have. That love manifested itself in “service.” Their faithfulness is a gift that the Holy Spirit gives to His people (Gal. 5:22). That faithfulness manifested itself in “perseverance” during trial. From the beginning true believers revealed their divine nature by loving and faithful service to the Lord. And the church’s present state reflects “deeds .. greater than at first.” But, I might add, without the gifts of the Spirit. It appears that only the reputation is there. The Lord commends them because He wants believers to work for Him. But He is more interested in spiritual fruit than in reputation.

Why is this important? Any time believers tolerate unbelievers in their church while trying to serve their Lord the likelihood exists that those unbelievers will take credit for the good reputation of serving Christ. Until they become believers in Christ they will claim those good works as their right to pass the piercing eye of the Lord Jesus. The Bible clearly teaches that we are not saved by works. See Rom. 3:20, 28; Titus 3:5; Eph. 2:8-9.

Begs the Question: Should evangelical churches be involved in social work? Should Bible churches cooperate with non-evangelical churches in great humanitarian outreaches?

The second lie was that people who do not repent need not worry about final judgment. The most atrocious sins were being practiced by members in the church. The congregation had allowed a woman prophetess (a false one, according to Christ’s assessment) to remain in the church and to continue to teach the saints to indulge in “acts of immorality” and to “eat things sacrificed to idols” (Rev. 2:20). Her teaching was no doubt similar to that of the Nicolaitans and Balaamites at Ephesus and Pergamos. Such sins were common practices for guild members in Thyatira. If they were not practiced, the artisans would lose their trade and their livelihood. In order to expose her true character, the Lord labeled her “Jezebel” – the name of the Canaanite wife of Israel’s King Ahab. Jezebel had not only led Ahab to worship Baal but through Ahab had spread he teachings of idolatry throughout all Israel (1 Kings 16:31-33; 2 Kings 9:22).

Why is this important? There is an apparent disconnect today between Christian beliefs and practice. Where is the distinction between Christianity and the world? People say they have trusted Christ but little is said of repentance. See Rev. 2:21-22. For example, a TV news item reported that a porn model claimed to be a Christian. Her justification was that Adam and Eve were naked. How wicked! Only as true believers uphold repentance in their own lives and live a life of separation from sin will they have an impact on those who see no need for it. Trusting by faith alone without repentance will damn a person. Repentance is one of the most essential, and yet, one of the most neglected of all Christian teachings. It indicates a dramatic change in thinking and attitude concerning sin. But notice how prominent it was in the early church. Jesus taught it (Mark 1:15). When He sent out his disciples on a missionary journey, He told them to preach repentance (Mark 6:12). The last message the Lord gave to his followers on earth was that of repentance (Luke 24:47). It was the message that Paul gave to the elders at Ephesus (Acts 20:21).

Begs the Question: The Lord tells us we are to love the unsaved, but does that mean we are to shut our eyes to the wrong they may do or to be unequally yoked with them in church membership? How much does the church preach on repentance? Can a person be saved if he does not consider himself sinful?

II. Now let’s consider another aspect of these lies: the failure of the lies in Thyatira (Rev. 2:21-23). The Lord pointed out such failure in His parable of houses built upon sand. He said that the floods would wash them away (Matt. 7:24-27). This is what the Lord predicted would happen to the church in Thyatira if they did not repent. Christ will not let the teaching of this false prophetess go unchallenged or unjudged. Failing to repent, Christ would cast her into a bed and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation. On a bed she sinned; on a bed she will suffer. She deceived others; she herself will now be deceived. Concerning the last days of this age, Paul wrote: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Tim. 3:13). And during the Tribulation, deceit and falsehood will reach a climax in the Man of Sin. Paul says, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:9-10). Jezebel’s children will be judged. They will be killed. They are the offspring of the apostate church which by the end times will have spread around the world. God’s judgment on them is that He will cast them into the Tribulation. This was true of the judgment of the ancient Jezebel, Ahab’s wife. She met her death years after Ahab died, but to the last she was scheming for herself against God. Her death was so awful, they could not find enough of her to bury.

Why is this important? People who boast about a strong refuge they have made of lies and deception will watch their refuge collapse. They may deny a final judgment but they cannot support it by hiding behind their lies. Judgment will surely come. Read of the lie that future Israel in the Tribulation will believe before judgment comes to them (Isaiah 28:15-17).

Begs the Question? How many neighbors and friends really believe in a coming final judgment? If the supreme court of the land declares an action to be legal, is it right? How do we know? Abortion? Capital punishment? War?

III. We probably should call the final aspect of these delusions the alternatives to the lies in Thyatira (Rev. 2:24-29). Each letter is addressed to believers who remain faithful. The letter to the Thyatiran saints is no different. They are called, “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.” The Lord encourages these faithful ones by saying, “I place no other burden on you.” They would not experience the Tribulation and judgments related to it as the others would. He challenges them, however, to “hold fast until I come,” that is, hold fast to the Word of God which in turn would preserve them from error and instruct them in righteousness. They did not know how long that might be, but they knew He was faithful and He would come. It would require perseverance on their part but the Lord offers hope at the end of the line. He promised the overcomers that they would rule with Him in His kingdom (2:26-27). The Lord also promises “the morning star.” This is a reference to Himself (22:16). The morning star appears between the twilight of morning and the full blaze of day. The believers were living in a time like the future Dark Ages. It was their twilight. But the Lord would appear in grace and truth as would later happen when the Reformers appeared, preaching the Word of God. This is pictured in the next letter, the one to the saints in Sardis (Rev. 3:1-6).

Countering Denials of a Final Judgment (Rev. 2:18-29)

The fourth letter from Jesus Christ is to the church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29). It introduces us to the subject of final judgment for sin. There were statements of personal and immediate judgment on the churches in Ephesus and Pergamos (2:5, 16), but not of final judgment. However, in each of the final four letters written respectively to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea the Lord uses terms that in other Scriptural passages were found in the context of final judgment, the Day of the Lord. For example, in 2:22 He speaks of "great tribulation;" in 3:3, of His coming "like a thief;" in 3:10, of "the hour of testing;" and in 3:16, of being "spit out" of the Lord's mouth. Apparently these four represent churches that existed then, exist now, and will exist into the Day of the Lord when final judgment takes place.

Contrary to what the Bible declares, and to what the Lord Jesus reiterates here, most people think final judgment is unlikely. The Apostle Peter predicted this world-wide denial in 2 Pet. 3:3-4, 10:

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking .. and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming?' But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Our present passage for consideration, Rev. 2:18-29, suggests two reasons for this foolish thinking. Today we will consider the first reason (2:18) of limited, human ability and unfounded hopes. Next week we will look at the second (2:19-29), namely the praise-worthy status of an individual or a church.

We can picture the unsaved masses in the world as typified by those "in Thyatira." Creatures, such as we, have no ability independently to know the future. If a choice is to be made as to whether there might be or might not be a final judgment, we naturally choose the latter, though we can't be sure. We think only like a man. We are not God. Humans can be deceived; God cannot. Notice the title Jesus claims for Himself, i.e. “the Son of God.” He uses this name to assert His proper Deity. He is of the same nature and has the same perfections with His Father. Now compare that title to 2:20 “the woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess.” She may claim to be a prophetess but it is only a shallow claim. She neither speaks for God nor has the same perfections as He. No man is the vicar of God; only the incarnate Son of God. Add to her limited powers the many limited people that followed her teaching, i.e. she “leads my bond-servants astray.” They, too, are mere humans and do not think God’s thoughts. God is on the one side and humans, on the other.

Speaking as God, then, the Lord demands that He is to be known as the divine Judge of all men. Those who deny the final judgment need to meet the final Judge (John 5:22). He “has eyes like a flame of fire.” Certainly the One whose knowledge of the future is greater than any man's is the same One whose insight into the secrets and motives of man is greater than any man's. His mind is alive and sharp and penetrating through the darkness of every man’s state (Heb. 4:12). And while He is to be known by His enemies as the Judge who will expose every evil in man, He is also to be known by His people as the One whose feet is “like burnished bronze.” Feet refers to stability and that is what He, as the Judge, gives to every one of His disciples who face judgment. Because of Christ's strength God's judgment is averted and man's judgment against the saints is harmless. They will stand stable for eternity.

Those unsaved masses of humanity, typified in the city of Thyatira, are limited in their knowledge of the future so they cannot dogmatically say there is no final judgment. But also they are basically gambling on their denial. At the very best, their bold affirmation of no final judgment is an unfounded hope. Man is part of a world system that hopes such judgment is unlikely. Just consider the glory of the city of Thyatira. Can this all go up in smoke? See Revelation 18:8-19 Two treasures blind the masses to the true future, i.e. their heritage and their successes.

Thyatira's Heritage. After the death of Alexander the Great, his kingdom was divided up between four of his generals. One of these, Seleucus I, established the state of Pergamum in 282 BC. It was at this time that Thyatira became the eastern flank of Seleucus' kingdom and it was re-founded by him as a military outpost (the name Thyatira means 'the citadel or castle of Thya' and indicates that a settlement already existed there before Seleucus re-fortified it). It basically was a sentinel city. At times it was to protect Sardis from Pergamos. At other times it was to meet any enemy from the east, delay its advance, and warn the more important Pergamos. Thyatira was not a jewel worth fighting for except in the sense that it could be used to hinder an advancing army. The garrison stationed here would, therefore, have been composed of the more guerrilla-like warriors who would be less concerned with winning a war than with throwing the enemy into disarray and hindering its speedy onslaught. When our history has been one of averting disaster after disaster, why should we imagine that we cannot avert another? Man's reliance on his own strength will be his greatest downfall in that Day to come.

Thyatira's Successes. Commercially, Thyatira flourished. It became noted for the weaving, linen, dye, leather, and bronze trades. The city was well organized into trade guilds. Everyone in a trade had to be part of a guild. Each guild selected specific deities to worship. The guild members were then required to worship and support their guild's deity. In the guild's fellowship meals, food was first sacrificed to idols and, after the meals, orgies were a frequent occurrence. Those who refused such pagan worship essentially forfeited their right to practice their trade. To turn their backs on their guild's deities was a serious offense. Sometimes the guilds even profited financially from the worship of pagan deities. The guilds opposed Christianity since its spread meant a loss of business from formerly pagan worshipers. The citizens of the city could say, 'Hitherto my god has protected me; he will do so in the future.' But it won't happen. They will be judged by the Almighty God.

So then, the limitations of humans and their unfounded hopes mark their denials of a final judgment as suspect. Next week, we look at the fraility of a good reputation.

Verse for Today: "It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment."

Your Step for Today: Discuss with your neighbors and friends the strengths of their country or their family. Talk about the history of those strengths and then about what the future holds in the light of them.

Your Prayer for Today: Pray that Christians may continue to be able to worship, work and witness in this country.