It’s not supposed to snow in Texas!

Revelation 2:18-29

This letter is to the church at Thyatira from Jesus, who has eyes like flames of fire and feet of burnished bronze. He is the one who sees to the depth of our souls with eyes like flames. To the church He writes that He sees their deeds and their service (primarily external) and he acknowledges the faith of some. There is a solid commendation, but like the Pergamum church, they tolerate the immoral behavior of a Jezebel-type woman who claims to be a prophetess. No doubt, she speaks of Jesus and of having faith in Him to forgive sins and the basics of the gospel, however, she adds immoral allowances to her faith.  For this, Jesus rebukes the church for tolerating her. Our society touts “tolerance” as one of it’s highest virtues. God actually displays a lot of patience for sinners who acknowledge they are indeed sinners.  But He has little tolerance for those who claim religious virtue but live immorally.

When a person rejects the gospel of Jesus and lives immorally, it’s simple to conclude they are not saved. But should we tolerate immoral behavior from those who claim Jesus as their savior and speak of Him in terms of faith?  We tend to look the other way and give them the benefit of the doubt. We all fail and sin, so we don’t want to rush to condemn others. However, in this case of a Jezebel-type women, Jesus identifies the sin as being sexually immoral and secondly, as being unrepentant, v21. Essentially, this is one who speaks of their faith in Christ but intentionally chooses to continue in sexually immoral behavior. In this context, Jesus reminds us just how serious this type of unrepentant sin is when done within the church community.  Jesus says, “and I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and the hearts and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.” Yikes. He’s serious about this!

Lord, search my mind and my heart. Reveal to me my deep-seeded sins which lie deep in my mind and heart. Cleanse me and wash me. Amen!