STUDY THEME: VICTORY IN JESUS NOW AND FOREVER. "EXPECTATIONS OF FAITHFULNESS." REV. 2: 1-22. PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO REVELATION 2. FEB. 13, 2,000 The broad outline of Revelations is given in Rev. 1: 19 when John was commanded to write "the things that he hath seen" and "the things which are", and "the things which shall be hereafter." John wrote of the past in Ch. 1, of things present in Ch. 2 & 3 and of things to come in Ch. 4 to 22:5. In Rev. 1: 20 the Lord said "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." The seven churches named in Rev. 1:11 were actual existing geographical identifiable churches located in modern day Turkey and were representative of all churches of that day and today. The events of which John wrote in 4:1 to 22:5 after the church was raptured we will study in March and April. Beginning in Ch. 4 are future events in which we are all interested. The main purpose of Revelation is to provide the setting for the revelation of Jesus Christ. In this Book we see Jesus revealed in glory in contrast to His presentation in the four Gospels, in His humiliation. Revelation 2-3 contains letters written to each of the seven churches mentioned in l:11. As we look at these 7 churches, let us discover how our church compares with them and what w as individual Christians can do to help our church become even more faithful to Christ. The 7 churches wee located at the western end of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey.) During Paul's ministry in Ephesus in Acts 19:8-10, the gospel was spread throughout Asia Minor. These and other churches (for example, Colosse) were the result. Later, the apostle John became associated with Ephesus, planted churches here and became a leading ecclesiastical figure in Asia Minor. John was exiled in A.D. 95 by the Roman Emperor Domitian to the island of Patmos, a small island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor. Church tradition states that John was buried in Ephesus. It was on Patmos on Sunday morning that the visions came to John. Before we begin our study of the 7 churches it might be wise to give a brief summary of the format of each of the 7 letters. Each letter is prefaced by a charge to write to the angel of that specific church. This is followed by an identification of the author in descriptive phrases taken from the vision in Ch. 1. The body of each letter is composed of an acknowledgment of the church's positive accomplishments (except Laodicea and, perhaps, in Sardis), followed by words of encouragement, censure, counsel, or warning. Only Smyrna and Philadelphia escape some note of censure. The letters close with an exhortation to hear and a promise to those who overcome. Rather than study the church letters in order we find in the next three lessons, the churches have been grouped by common themes. The proper relationship of truth and love is the common theme in the three churches in today's lesson. Ephesus believed the right things but had lost its first love. Pergamos was faithful unto death but tolerated moral compromise. Thyatira had good works but allowed false teaching. Married to the world it became wealthy and worldly It is only natural that the first church to be addressed is the church in Ephesus. This city was the capital of he province and its chief commercial and religious center and was called "The light of Asia." It not only was the largest city in Asia but one of the largest in the Roman empire. The church there was called the First Century Apostolic Church. The church at Ephesus was commended for their perseverance and for resisting false teachers, but they were rebuked for having lost their first love. They were called to remember, repent, and return lest their place as a true church be lost. One of the themes which runs throughout he letters to the seven churches is the importance of faithfulness. See that especially in the text for today's lesson. We trust this lesson , by dwelling on the Bible and examples of these three first century churches in Ephesus, Pergamos, and Thyateria can help answer the question, "In what ways shall our church be faithful to Christ?" 1. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 1-5. Acts 19:1-20:1 relates the founding of the church at Ephesus and Paul's relationship with it. After Paul's death in the late A.D. 60's, the apostle John made his home in Ephesus. With the exception of his exile to Patmos, John probably lived there until his death. In Ephesus are the remains of a large Christian church dedicated to John with the claim that he is buried there. The angel of the church has been interpreted by Dr. Hobbs as the pastor or church leader. Angel means messenger. Although the letter was addressed unto the angel, the letter was for the entire congregation. As Rev. 1: 3 shows, each person was to read, hear, and obey the word of the Lord. If you have a red letter Bible you will note that each of these letters is written in red, indicating that these are the word of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In each letter Christ introduced Himself with a part of the vision John saw in Ch. 1. This immediately established Christ as the Author of the messages to the churches. Christ exercises authority over His messengers to His churches and protects them. What Christ says to these churches is relevant in all times to all churches. Christ is present among the churches to know accurately their strengths, weaknesses, ministries and sins. He is their Lord who commends their virtues, exposes their failures, and calls them to correct their attitudes and their ways. The implied warning was that the Christ who walks among the churches could travel to Ephesus to remove that church's lampstand. In Vs. 2 Christ commended the church members at Ephesus for their "deeds" characterized by "hard work...perseverance,' and a strong stand against wickedness and false apostles. The church had "tested" self-styled apostles, and had found them to be impostors. The church at Ephesus valued doctrinal purity. In Vs. 3 Christ commended the members enduring hardships without giving up. They had "persevered" because they knew that what they were doing was for Christ's name. For over 40 years since its founding, this church had remained faithful to the Word and to the Lord. Thru difficulty and persecution, the members had endured, always driven by the right motive i.e. for Christ's name and reputation. Churches and individual believers sometimes are called on to perform services they would do only for Christ's sake. In Vs. 4 Commendation was followed by reproof. Dr. Bailey Smith says the Church at Ephesus is representative of the church period from 50 A.D. to l00 A.D. The key verse is Vs. 4. Jesus said "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. About a generation had passed since Paul had established a strong evangelistic church in Ephesus. From the Ephesian church the gospel had spread to the whole province of Asia. Then a cooling of zeal had set in, so Christ charged the church with having forsaken its "first love." Broadly viewed, the church members at Ephesus had allowed their initial love for God to cool. This was expressed practically in lack of love for one another and for unconverted outsiders. Thus they suffered a decline in devotion, fellowship, and evangelism. A church can be orthodox in its teachings but can be cold in spirit. Their doctrinal and moral purity, their undiminished zeal for the truth and their disciplined service were no substitute for the love for Christ they had forsaken. This church, as most all churches in Shawnee were evangelical i.e. (orthodox, right believing) but they had ceased to be evangelistic. It may be that the church at Ephesus was so busy heresy hunting that tit had lost the atmosphere of brotherly love. It may be that a hard, censorious, critical, fault-finding, stern self-righteousness had banished the spirit of love. Remember, Christ is here speaking as the bridegroom and addressing the church of Ephesus as His Bride. Their love for the Lord had grown cold. A cold church does not and cannot represent Jesus in the world; it is no longer accomplishing the purpose for which churches are formed and therefore there is no reason why it should continue to exist. In Vs. 5 Christ Counseled the Ephesian Church to "repent" and return to "do the things it did at first." The statement "Remember the height from which you have fallen" would motivate repentance. Recalling the original spontaneous love in the members' initial commitment to Christ was meant to lead them to return to it. The phrases "first love" in Vs. 4 and "things you did at first" in Vs. 5, belong together. The latter springs from the former. Failure to repent would result in Christ's coming in judgment to remove the church's lampstand from its place. A church may lapse in darkness or extinction. Such happened at Ephesus. Standing for convictions and working faithfully for Christ are commendable traits for any church. Yet we are not to become obsessed so thoroughly with doing right things that we lose the spirit of love that is critical to faithful demonstration of discipleship. We need to be careful lest we become so busy with things of the kingdom that we do not have time for the best---abiding in the love of Christ. A church can have everything, but it has and is nothing without love. (1 Cor. 13:1-3) The first part of an answer to the question, "In what ways does Christ expect our church to be faithful?" is that He expects a church to hold right convictions with a loving spirit. Let's skip the letter to the church at Smyrna at this time and consider it next Sunday along with the church at Philadelphia because they have so much in common. Let's look now at the letter from Jesus to the church at Pergamos. 2. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 12-16. About 55 miles north of Ephesus was the illustrious city of Pergamum. This city had been a capital city for almost 400 years. So it had an illustrious past. The church at Pergamum represents the churches that existed from 312 to 600 A.D. The meaning of Pergamus means a mixed marriage. In the key Vs. 14 we see that they, who were to be bride of Christ, had become married to the world. They were influenced more by the world than the world was influenced by the church. Pergamum was famous for its huge library, which contained 200,000 parchment rolls. In fact, the ancient writing material known a parchment was developed there when the king of Egypt refused to allow papyrus to be exported to Pergamum. Also at Pergamum were great shrines of the Greek gods Zeus and Athene, who were worshipped as two of the greatest gods in the Greek pantheon. All day smoke arose from sacrifices made on the altar to Zeus. In addition, Pergamum was one of the leading centers for emperor worship in the late first century. No wonder Christ described Pergamum as the place where Satan had his throne. As Rome had become the center of Satan's activity in the West, so Pergamum had become his throne in the East. When Revelation was written, Christians in Pergamum were in constant danger of persecution. After a brief salutation, Christ in Vs. 12 identified Himself as the One having the sharp double edged sword. This figure symbolizes His ability to protect and to judge His people. He can protect His people during adversity, and He is capable of judging them when they go astray. This sword is the Word of God which will cut one off from the he world or cut one off from eternal life in heaven. The Word of God will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the word of God. The church at Pergamus had proved faithful in times of persecution, but they tolerated within their church people who advocated idolatry and sexual immorality. The Lord warned them to repent lest He come in judgment. Christ said in Vs. 13 "I know where you live." He did not mean He knew the believers lived in Pergamum. He was aware of the circumstances of their existence. The word Christ used described a permanent place of residence. The lesson is that we are to live for Christ where we are. When adversity comes or problems arise, we may want to remove ourselves from them. We must learn that Christ wants us to live for Him where we are. The Christians in Pergamum were living and serving under difficult circumstances. People who would force emperor worship on believers constantly threatened Christians' lives and their livelihoods. In spite of these difficulties, they had remained true to their Lord and had not turned away from their faith. At this time Roman citizens were required to worship Caesar once each year. Each citizen was expected to burn incense on Caesar's altar and to repeat the confession "Caesar is Lord." When citizens did this, they were given a certificate affirming their actions. The rest of the year they were free to worship any deity they pleased. Christians, however, considered confessing Caesar as Lord to be blasphemy. They reserved the title Lord for Christ. When believers refused to worship Caesar, they were signing their death warrants. For believers living in Pergamum this was an ever-present danger because of the strong emperor cult there. The Christians at Pergamum already had lost at least one person from their ranks. Antipas had paid the supreme sacrifice for his faith. He may have died by government decree because of his refusal to worship at Caesar's altar. No records exist concerning His execution, so we do not know whether he was one of the pastors or one of the members. Whatever the case, his name is linked forever with the countless believers who have died rather than renounce their faith in Christ. We only know he was a faithful martyr, slain where Satan dwelled. It is said that in the days of Dometian he was shut up in a red-hot brazen bull, and ended his life in praise and prayer. Problems existed, however, among believers in Pergamum's harsh pagan environment. The church had compromised its convictions by allowing some of its number to hold to errors that sacrificed vital points of faith and witness. The O.T. parallel to which Christ referred as the teaching of Balaam in Vs. 14. This is the key Verse in this letter. The main point in Rev. 2:14-15 is that the people who held to the teaching of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans saw no problem with sexual immorality or with eating meat that had been offered to idols. The focus seems to be on the danger that arose from being so attentive in opposing obvious external evil that the church overlooked people within the congregation who held to false ideas and convictions. The church at Pergamum was commended for its strong stand for Christ, even to the point that one believer had been martyred. yet internally the church had compromised its convictions by allowing some to hold to errors that sacrificed vital points of faith and witness. In Vs. 16 Christ called for repentance. Failure to do so would result in His judgment on the church. As followers of Christ, we are to resist the world's evils that oppose the truth of Christ. At the same time we must beware of the internal threats posed by people within the body who hold to teachings that are not true to Christ. Let's look next at the church at Thyatira which had many good works, but they allowed a false teacher to spread false doctrine and practice compromise unless the church and its followers repented, the Lord would judge them severely. 3. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 18-22. Thyatira represents those churches that existed from 600 to 1500 A.D. during what is called the Dark Ages. This is the period when the Bible was closed and this led to sinful service. The key verse is Vs. 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. Thyatira was not a major city in the Roman province of Asia. It was not a center for emperor worship though it had a shrine for fortune telling. Thyatira's primary claim to fame was a rare and expensive purple dye that it produced. You will remember that the woman named Lydia whom Paul led to Christ in Acts 16:13 at Philippi sold purple dyed goods. Because of the substantial trade for the dye in Thyatira, the city had many trade guilds. The practices associated with these guilds were contrary to Christ's teachings. The guilds had common meals that involved sacrifices to pagan gods. The meat offered to the idols then was eaten. Also, often these meetings ended in drunken revelry and gross immorality. For members of trade to engage in their means of livelihood, they had to be members of the trade guild and to participate in all the activities associated with it. To fail to do so would result in expulsion from the guild. The result would be the loss of livelihood and probably persecution at the hands of former friends and associates. In the greeting Christ in Vs. 18 identified Himself as the Son of God. Because of this identification, His followers owe Him supreme allegiance. He described His eyes as like blazing fire. He can burn away all superficiality and can penetrate to the depths of he human heart. He knows people's actions and understands their motives. Beyond that, His feet are like burnished bronze. Thus He is able to crush all opposition, and He is strong enough to withstand any assault without being moved. Christ commended the church at Thyatira for faithfulness, diligence in service, and patient endurance. Yet in contrast to the church at Ephesus, the church at Thyatira also was identified in Vs. 19 as having a spirit of love. The letter to Thyatira contains one of the most glowing statements of praise given to the seven churches. Christ's finest words of praise to the members were that they were doing more than they did at first. We do not know the identity of the Jezebel in the church in Thyatira. Whoever the woman was, she had strong influence in the church; and she was using her influence to corrupt some of the Christians in Thyatira. In spite of all that was good in the church, the corrupting element Jezebel represented brought Christ's strong condemnation. The members' tolerating the woman who beguiled others into immoral practices threatened the church's effectiveness. Christ said that she and her followers would be subject to severe judgment unless they repented and their actions and changed their ways. Today Christians must not allow love to become---or to be interpreted to mean--that every doctrine is acceptable. Actually the loving spirit that comes from Christ has a tough dimension to it. This does not mean, however, that love gives us a license to be ugly and harsh. NEXT WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT TWO MORE CHURCHES THAT ARE SIMILAR. SMYRNA AND PHILADELPHIA. A.V. DAUGHERTY 2-13-2000. STUDY THEME: VICTORY IN JESUS NOW AND FOREVER. "EXPECTATIONS OF FAITHFULNESS." REV. 2: 1-22. PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO REVELATION 2. FEB. 13, 2,000 The broad outline of Revelations is given in Rev. 1: 19 when John was commanded to write "the things that he hath seen" and "the things which are", and "the things which shall be hereafter." John wrote of the past in Ch. 1, of things present in Ch. 2 & 3 and of things to come in Ch. 4 to 22:5. In Rev. 1: 20 the Lord said "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." The seven churches named in Rev. 1:11 were actual existing geographical identifiable churches located in modern day Turkey and were representative of all churches of that day and today. The events of which John wrote in 4:1 to 22:5 after the church was raptured we will study in March and April. Beginning in Ch. 4 are future events in which we are all interested. The main purpose of Revelation is to provide the setting for the revelation of Jesus Christ. In this Book we see Jesus revealed in glory in contrast to His presentation in the four Gospels, in His humiliation. Revelation 2-3 contains letters written to each of the seven churches mentioned in l:11. As we look at these 7 churches, let us discover how our church compares with them and what w as individual Christians can do to help our church become even more faithful to Christ. The 7 churches wee located at the western end of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey.) During Paul's ministry in Ephesus in Acts 19:8-10, the gospel was spread throughout Asia Minor. These and other churches (for example, Colosse) were the result. Later, the apostle John became associated with Ephesus, planted churches here and became a leading ecclesiastical figure in Asia Minor. John was exiled in A.D. 95 by the Roman Emperor Domitian to the island of Patmos, a small island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor. Church tradition states that John was buried in Ephesus. It was on Patmos on Sunday morning that the visions came to John. Before we begin our study of the 7 churches it might be wise to give a brief summary of the format of each of the 7 letters. Each letter is prefaced by a charge to write to the angel of that specific church. This is followed by an identification of the author in descriptive phrases taken from the vision in Ch. 1. The body of each letter is composed of an acknowledgment of the church's positive accomplishments (except Laodicea and, perhaps, in Sardis), followed by words of encouragement, censure, counsel, or warning. Only Smyrna and Philadelphia escape some note of censure. The letters close with an exhortation to hear and a promise to those who overcome. Rather than study the church letters in order we find in the next three lessons, the churches have been grouped by common themes. The proper relationship of truth and love is the common theme in the three churches in today's lesson. Ephesus believed the right things but had lost its first love. Pergamos was faithful unto death but tolerated moral compromise. Thyatira had good works but allowed false teaching. Married to the world it became wealthy and worldly It is only natural that the first church to be addressed is the church in Ephesus. This city was the capital of he province and its chief commercial and religious center and was called "The light of Asia." It not only was the largest city in Asia but one of the largest in the Roman empire. The church there was called the First Century Apostolic Church. The church at Ephesus was commended for their perseverance and for resisting false teachers, but they were rebuked for having lost their first love. They were called to remember, repent, and return lest their place as a true church be lost. One of the themes which runs throughout he letters to the seven churches is the importance of faithfulness. See that especially in the text for today's lesson. We trust this lesson , by dwelling on the Bible and examples of these three first century churches in Ephesus, Pergamos, and Thyateria can help answer the question, "In what ways shall our church be faithful to Christ?" 1. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 1-5. Acts 19:1-20:1 relates the founding of the church at Ephesus and Paul's relationship with it. After Paul's death in the late A.D. 60's, the apostle John made his home in Ephesus. With the exception of his exile to Patmos, John probably lived there until his death. In Ephesus are the remains of a large Christian church dedicated to John with the claim that he is buried there. The angel of the church has been interpreted by Dr. Hobbs as the pastor or church leader. Angel means messenger. Although the letter was addressed unto the angel, the letter was for the entire congregation. As Rev. 1: 3 shows, each person was to read, hear, and obey the word of the Lord. If you have a red letter Bible you will note that each of these letters is written in red, indicating that these are the word of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In each letter Christ introduced Himself with a part of the vision John saw in Ch. 1. This immediately established Christ as the Author of the messages to the churches. Christ exercises authority over His messengers to His churches and protects them. What Christ says to these churches is relevant in all times to all churches. Christ is present among the churches to know accurately their strengths, weaknesses, ministries and sins. He is their Lord who commends their virtues, exposes their failures, and calls them to correct their attitudes and their ways. The implied warning was that the Christ who walks among the churches could travel to Ephesus to remove that church's lampstand. In Vs. 2 Christ commended the church members at Ephesus for their "deeds" characterized by "hard work...perseverance,' and a strong stand against wickedness and false apostles. The church had "tested" self-styled apostles, and had found them to be impostors. The church at Ephesus valued doctrinal purity. In Vs. 3 Christ commended the members enduring hardships without giving up. They had "persevered" because they knew that what they were doing was for Christ's name. For over 40 years since its founding, this church had remained faithful to the Word and to the Lord. Thru difficulty and persecution, the members had endured, always driven by the right motive i.e. for Christ's name and reputation. Churches and individual believers sometimes are called on to perform services they would do only for Christ's sake. In Vs. 4 Commendation was followed by reproof. Dr. Bailey Smith says the Church at Ephesus is representative of the church period from 50 A.D. to l00 A.D. The key verse is Vs. 4. Jesus said "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. About a generation had passed since Paul had established a strong evangelistic church in Ephesus. From the Ephesian church the gospel had spread to the whole province of Asia. Then a cooling of zeal had set in, so Christ charged the church with having forsaken its "first love." Broadly viewed, the church members at Ephesus had allowed their initial love for God to cool. This was expressed practically in lack of love for one another and for unconverted outsiders. Thus they suffered a decline in devotion, fellowship, and evangelism. A church can be orthodox in its teachings but can be cold in spirit. Their doctrinal and moral purity, their undiminished zeal for the truth and their disciplined service were no substitute for the love for Christ they had forsaken. This church, as most all churches in Shawnee were evangelical i.e. (orthodox, right believing) but they had ceased to be evangelistic. It may be that the church at Ephesus was so busy heresy hunting that tit had lost the atmosphere of brotherly love. It may be that a hard, censorious, critical, fault-finding, stern self-righteousness had banished the spirit of love. Remember, Christ is here speaking as the bridegroom and addressing the church of Ephesus as His Bride. Their love for the Lord had grown cold. A cold church does not and cannot represent Jesus in the world; it is no longer accomplishing the purpose for which churches are formed and therefore there is no reason why it should continue to exist. In Vs. 5 Christ Counseled the Ephesian Church to "repent" and return to "do the things it did at first." The statement "Remember the height from which you have fallen" would motivate repentance. Recalling the original spontaneous love in the members' initial commitment to Christ was meant to lead them to return to it. The phrases "first love" in Vs. 4 and "things you did at first" in Vs. 5, belong together. The latter springs from the former. Failure to repent would result in Christ's coming in judgment to remove the church's lampstand from its place. A church may lapse in darkness or extinction. Such happened at Ephesus. Standing for convictions and working faithfully for Christ are commendable traits for any church. Yet we are not to become obsessed so thoroughly with doing right things that we lose the spirit of love that is critical to faithful demonstration of discipleship. We need to be careful lest we become so busy with things of the kingdom that we do not have time for the best---abiding in the love of Christ. A church can have everything, but it has and is nothing without love. (1 Cor. 13:1-3) The first part of an answer to the question, "In what ways does Christ expect our church to be faithful?" is that He expects a church to hold right convictions with a loving spirit. Let's skip the letter to the church at Smyrna at this time and consider it next Sunday along with the church at Philadelphia because they have so much in common. Let's look now at the letter from Jesus to the church at Pergamos. 2. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 12-16. About 55 miles north of Ephesus was the illustrious city of Pergamum. This city had been a capital city for almost 400 years. So it had an illustrious past. The church at Pergamum represents the churches that existed from 312 to 600 A.D. The meaning of Pergamus means a mixed marriage. In the key Vs. 14 we see that they, who were to be bride of Christ, had become married to the world. They were influenced more by the world than the world was influenced by the church. Pergamum was famous for its huge library, which contained 200,000 parchment rolls. In fact, the ancient writing material known a parchment was developed there when the king of Egypt refused to allow papyrus to be exported to Pergamum. Also at Pergamum were great shrines of the Greek gods Zeus and Athene, who were worshipped as two of the greatest gods in the Greek pantheon. All day smoke arose from sacrifices made on the altar to Zeus. In addition, Pergamum was one of the leading centers for emperor worship in the late first century. No wonder Christ described Pergamum as the place where Satan had his throne. As Rome had become the center of Satan's activity in the West, so Pergamum had become his throne in the East. When Revelation was written, Christians in Pergamum were in constant danger of persecution. After a brief salutation, Christ in Vs. 12 identified Himself as the One having the sharp double edged sword. This figure symbolizes His ability to protect and to judge His people. He can protect His people during adversity, and He is capable of judging them when they go astray. This sword is the Word of God which will cut one off from the he world or cut one off from eternal life in heaven. The Word of God will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the word of God. The church at Pergamus had proved faithful in times of persecution, but they tolerated within their church people who advocated idolatry and sexual immorality. The Lord warned them to repent lest He come in judgment. Christ said in Vs. 13 "I know where you live." He did not mean He knew the believers lived in Pergamum. He was aware of the circumstances of their existence. The word Christ used described a permanent place of residence. The lesson is that we are to live for Christ where we are. When adversity comes or problems arise, we may want to remove ourselves from them. We must learn that Christ wants us to live for Him where we are. The Christians in Pergamum were living and serving under difficult circumstances. People who would force emperor worship on believers constantly threatened Christians' lives and their livelihoods. In spite of these difficulties, they had remained true to their Lord and had not turned away from their faith. At this time Roman citizens were required to worship Caesar once each year. Each citizen was expected to burn incense on Caesar's altar and to repeat the confession "Caesar is Lord." When citizens did this, they were given a certificate affirming their actions. The rest of the year they were free to worship any deity they pleased. Christians, however, considered confessing Caesar as Lord to be blasphemy. They reserved the title Lord for Christ. When believers refused to worship Caesar, they were signing their death warrants. For believers living in Pergamum this was an ever-present danger because of the strong emperor cult there. The Christians at Pergamum already had lost at least one person from their ranks. Antipas had paid the supreme sacrifice for his faith. He may have died by government decree because of his refusal to worship at Caesar's altar. No records exist concerning His execution, so we do not know whether he was one of the pastors or one of the members. Whatever the case, his name is linked forever with the countless believers who have died rather than renounce their faith in Christ. We only know he was a faithful martyr, slain where Satan dwelled. It is said that in the days of Dometian he was shut up in a red-hot brazen bull, and ended his life in praise and prayer. Problems existed, however, among believers in Pergamum's harsh pagan environment. The church had compromised its convictions by allowing some of its number to hold to errors that sacrificed vital points of faith and witness. The O.T. parallel to which Christ referred as the teaching of Balaam in Vs. 14. This is the key Verse in this letter. The main point in Rev. 2:14-15 is that the people who held to the teaching of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans saw no problem with sexual immorality or with eating meat that had been offered to idols. The focus seems to be on the danger that arose from being so attentive in opposing obvious external evil that the church overlooked people within the congregation who held to false ideas and convictions. The church at Pergamum was commended for its strong stand for Christ, even to the point that one believer had been martyred. yet internally the church had compromised its convictions by allowing some to hold to errors that sacrificed vital points of faith and witness. In Vs. 16 Christ called for repentance. Failure to do so would result in His judgment on the church. As followers of Christ, we are to resist the world's evils that oppose the truth of Christ. At the same time we must beware of the internal threats posed by people within the body who hold to teachings that are not true to Christ. Let's look next at the church at Thyatira which had many good works, but they allowed a false teacher to spread false doctrine and practice compromise unless the church and its followers repented, the Lord would judge them severely. 3. PLEASE READ REVELATION 2: 18-22. Thyatira represents those churches that existed from 600 to 1500 A.D. during what is called the Dark Ages. This is the period when the Bible was closed and this led to sinful service. The key verse is Vs. 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. Thyatira was not a major city in the Roman province of Asia. It was not a center for emperor worship though it had a shrine for fortune telling. Thyatira's primary claim to fame was a rare and expensive purple dye that it produced. You will remember that the woman named Lydia whom Paul led to Christ in Acts 16:13 at Philippi sold purple dyed goods. Because of the substantial trade for the dye in Thyatira, the city had many trade guilds. The practices associated with these guilds were contrary to Christ's teachings. The guilds had common meals that involved sacrifices to pagan gods. The meat offered to the idols then was eaten. Also, often these meetings ended in drunken revelry and gross immorality. For members of trade to engage in their means of livelihood, they had to be members of the trade guild and to participate in all the activities associated with it. To fail to do so would result in expulsion from the guild. The result would be the loss of livelihood and probably persecution at the hands of former friends and associates. In the greeting Christ in Vs. 18 identified Himself as the Son of God. Because of this identification, His followers owe Him supreme allegiance. He described His eyes as like blazing fire. He can burn away all superficiality and can penetrate to the depths of he human heart. He knows people's actions and understands their motives. Beyond that, His feet are like burnished bronze. Thus He is able to crush all opposition, and He is strong enough to withstand any assault without being moved. Christ commended the church at Thyatira for faithfulness, diligence in service, and patient endurance. Yet in contrast to the church at Ephesus, the church at Thyatira also was identified in Vs. 19 as having a spirit of love. The letter to Thyatira contains one of the most glowing statements of praise given to the seven churches. Christ's finest words of praise to the members were that they were doing more than they did at first. We do not know the identity of the Jezebel in the church in Thyatira. Whoever the woman was, she had strong influence in the church; and she was using her influence to corrupt some of the Christians in Thyatira. In spite of all that was good in the church, the corrupting element Jezebel represented brought Christ's strong condemnation. The members' tolerating the woman who beguiled others into immoral practices threatened the church's effectiveness. Christ said that she and her followers would be subject to severe judgment unless they repented and their actions and changed their ways. Today Christians must not allow love to become---or to be interpreted to mean--that every doctrine is acceptable. Actually the loving spirit that comes from Christ has a tough dimension to it. This does not mean, however, that love gives us a license to be ugly and harsh. NEXT WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT TWO MORE CHURCHES THAT ARE SIMILAR. SMYRNA AND PHILADELPHIA. A.V. DAUGHERTY 2-13-2000.