Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira—Involved Yet Immoral

Rick Griffith • Crossroads International Church • biblestudydownloads.com
Thyatira:
Involved Yet Immoral

Pornography
Selling sex is one of the oldest businesses in the world, and
right now, business has never been better. But this full-
blown addiction to porn is spreading from computer and TV
screens across America to homes, families, and marriages
across the country at a dangerous pace.
AMERICA IS
ADDICTED TO
PORN

Pornography
Every 30
minutes: A
porn film is
made in the
USA.
The United
States produces
89% of all
pornographic
websites.
42.7% of internet
users view porn
(that’s 102,434,567
people)
Every second:
30.000 people
are viewing porn.

Pornography
Porn is roughly a
industry
It’s larger than the
revenues of the top
technology
companies
combined.

Pornography
IS THE #1 TOPIC
FOR INTERNET
SEARCHES
There are:
68 MILLION
daily
pornographic
search engine
requests
25%
of all
search
requests
2.5 billion daily pornographic emails
(8% of total emails) The average
Internet user
receives
4.5
pornographic
emails per day.

PornographyThe average age of
initial pornography
is just 11.
Men are more than 6X as
likely to view porn than
woman, and more likely to
spend more time viewing it.
17% of
women say
they struggle
with
pornography
addiction.
Breakdown of male/female
visitors to pornography
sites:
28% FEMALE 72% MEN

Pornography
About 200,000 Americans are
“porn addicts”: defined as
spending 11 hours or more per
week online looking at porn.
Repeatedly viewing porn can
negatively effect your sex drive:
More than 50% of
those engaged in
“sexual internet
interactions” had
lost interest in
sexual intercourse.
One-
third of
their
partners
had lost
interest
as well.

Pornography
Pornography
use increases
the marital
infidelity
rate by more
than
300%
40% “sex addicts” lose their spouses
58% suffer considerable financial losses
One-third lose their jobs
Addiction to porn has led to:

Pornography56% of divorce
cases involved
one person
having an
obsessive
interest in
pornographic
websites.
Severe clinical depression was
reported twice as frequently
among Internet pornography
users compared.
Sexual compulsives & addicts are
23 times more likely than those
without a problem to state that:
“Discovering online
sexual material was the
worst thing that had ever
happened in their life.”

Pornography
of men aged 18-24 visit porn
sites in a typical month.

Pornography
THE AVE PORN SITE VISIT LASTS 6 MINUTES & 29 SECONDS.
THE LEAST POPULAR DAY
OF THE YEAR TO VIEW
PORN IS THANKSGIVING.
THE MOST POPULAR DAY
OF THE WEEK TO VIEW
PORN IS SUNDAY.
LOWEST HIGHEST
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY

How does Jesus respond to
immorality among believers?

If Jesus wrote a letter to our
church,
what would Jesus say?
R
Revelation

Trailes
Nysa
The 7 Churches (Rev. 2–3)
Ephesus Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
Thyatira
Pergamum
Smyrna
Erythrae
Aphrodisias
Cyme
Hierapolis
Eumenia
Aezani
Colossae
Alabanda
Heraclea
Miletus
Lebedus Colophon
Adramyttium
Patmos
345

Jesus had
authority
over and
wrote 7
churches
(Rev. 2–3)
Ephesus
Smyrna
Pergamum
Thyatira
Sardis
Philadelphia
Laodicea

Revelation 2:18-29
Structure
Negative Positive
Negative Positive

I. Jesus judges sin in
believers (2:18).

Trailes
Nysa
Thyatira (Rev. 2:18-29)
Ephesus Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
Thyatira
Pergamum
Smyrna
Erythrae
Aphrodisias
Cyme
Hierapolis
Eumenia
Aezani
Colossae
Alabanda
Heraclea
Miletus
Lebedus Colophon
Adramyttium
Patmos
345

Thyatira
Many
Christians
died rather
than
compromise
in guild
festivities.
Thyatira was famous for its purple dyes and
guilds for tanners, dyers, woolen and linen
workers. These led to an extensive use of
clay pots and pagan celebrations.
355

Thyatira
Thyatira had more trade guilds than any other
city. Such guilds supported the pagan gods, so
Christians had trouble supporting themselves.
355

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
355

Description
of Christ
"This is the
message from
the Son of God,
whose eyes are
like flames of
fire, whose feet
are like polished
bronze" (2:18
NLT)

II. Jesus commends
service for Christ (2:19).

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Commendation:
Deeds, love,
faith, service,
perseverance,
doing more
than at first
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
355

"I know all the things you do. I have
seen your love, your faith, your
service, and your patient endurance.
And I can see your constant
improvement in all these things"
(2:19 NLT)

Who should be commended
among us?

Lewis, Barbara & Christine Winkler

III. Jesus discerns between
unfaithful and faithful
believers (2:20-25)

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Commendation:
Deeds, love,
faith, service,
perseverance,
doing more
than at first
Rebuke
Tolerates
Jezebel
with her
immorality
and idolatry
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
355

"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. 21I gave her
time to repent, but she does not
want to turn away from her
immorality" (2:20-21 NLT)

Elijah confronted
850 of Jezebel's
prophets at the end
of a 3.5 year
drought in the
land of the
"thunder god" and
"rain god."
Jerusalem
Bethel
Dan
Baal
1 Kings 16:31-33

"What was acceptable to that local society
was abhorred by Christ. Their departure from
morality had gone on for some time (v. 21).
The church in Thyatira may have first heard
the gospel from Lydia, converted through
Paul's ministry (Acts 16:14-15). Interestingly
now a woman, a self-claimed 'prophetess,'
was influencing the church. Her name
'Jezebel' suggests that she was corrupting the
Thyatira church much like Ahab's wife Jezebel
corrupted Israel (1 Kings 16:31-33)"
(Walvoord, BKC)

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Commendation:
Deeds, love,
faith, service,
perseverance,
doing more
than at first
Rebuke
Tolerates
Jezebel
with her
immorality
and idolatry
Warning
I am bringing her [Jezebel]
violent illness, and adulterers
with her into terrible suffering,
unless they repent; and I will
strike her followers with a
deadly disease, and then all the
churches will know that I am
the one who searches minds
and hearts. I will repay each
one of you what your deeds
deserve.
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
355

"Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of
suffering, and those who commit adultery with
her will suffer greatly unless they repent and
turn away from her evil deeds. 23I will strike
her children dead…" (2:22-23a NLT)

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Commendation:
Deeds, love,
faith, service,
perseverance,
doing more
than at first
Rebuke
Tolerates
Jezebel
with her
immorality
and idolatry
Warning
deserve.
Exhortation
Repent!
Hold on to what
you have
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
355

Faithful
believers
must
persevere
(2:24-25)

IV. Jesus
rewards
faithfulness
(2:26-29).

Christ:
The Son of God
with eyes like
blazing fire and
feet like
burnished
brass
Commendation:
Deeds, love,
faith, service,
perseverance,
doing more
than at first
Rebuke
Tolerates
Jezebel
with her
immorality
and idolatry
Exhortation
Repent!
Hold on to what
you have
Warning
deserve.
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
Promise
Will have authority
over the nations and
the morning star
355

Thyatira
To all who are victorious,
who obey me to the very
end,
To them I will give authority
over all the nations.
27They will rule the nations
with an iron rod and smash
them like clay pots.
Rev. 2:26-27 NLT
355

The Overcomers (Rev. 2–3)
Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
"He who overcomes"
(NAU) is used once
for each of the 7
churches, plus 21:7
with a total of 8
times in Revelation
365

Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
2:7
To him who
overcomes, I will
grant to eat of the
tree of life which is
in the Paradise of
God (2:7)
365

Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
2:7
2:11
He who overcomes
will not be hurt by
the second death
(2:11)
365

Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
2:7
2:11
2:17
To
him
who
overcomes,
to him I will give some of
the hidden manna, and I
will give him a white stone,
and a new name written
on the stone which
no one knows but he
who receives it (2:17)
365

Ephesus
Laodicea
Philadelphia
Sardis
ThyatiraPergamum
Smyrna
2:7
2:11
2:17 2:26
He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My
deeds until the end,
TO HIM I WILL GIVE
AUTHORITY OVER
THE NATIONS (2:26)
365

Are you ready to rule
the world?

The Rule of Christ
Psalm 2:8-9 quoted in Rev. 2:27

Our Future
(Rev. 19–20)
Heaven
(Rev. 21–22)
Return
(Rev. 19)
Millennium
(Rev. 20)

The
Future
Reign of
the
Servant
Kings
Final Destiny
Joseph Dillow
The Future Reign of the
Servant Kings
Jody Dillow share much about our rule with Christ

Revelation 20:4 (NAU)
4Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them,
and judgment was given to them. And I saw
the souls of those who had been beheaded
because of their testimony of Jesus and
because of the word of God, and those
who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received the mark on
their forehead and on their hand; and they
came to life and reigned with Christ for a
thousand years.

"Do you not know
that saints will
judge the world?"
(1 Cor. 6:2a)

"If we endure hardship,
we will reign with him"
(2 Tim. 2:12 NLT)

"Those who
are victorious
will sit with me
on my throne,
just as I was
victorious and
sat with my
Father on his
throne"
(Rev. 3:21
NLT).

Service is no
substitute for
spotlessness
Main Idea:

Judges
Commends
Discerns
Rewards
How does Jesus respond to
immorality among believers?

For No Porn-Again:
1. Strict filter
2. Accountability

Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira—Involved Yet Immoral

Jesus Wins!
Series on
Revelation

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Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira—Involved Yet Immoral

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Revelation 2:18-29 Thyatira—Involved Yet Immoral