The 4th letter to the early Christian churches in Asia Minor was addressed to the church in Thyatira. This time Jesus deals with the problems of spiritual syncretism and a weakness in the church leadership. The result was that the church was vulnerable to being enchanted by idolatry and immorality. What timeless lessons can we learn from this ancient letter in the book of Revelation? Join Pastor Jim as he helps us mine its wisdom, encouragement and exhortation.
– City/ name of the church
– Reference to Christ from ch. 1
– Commendation
– Accusation
– Exhortation
– The summons to hear/heed
– Motivating promise
– The call to hear/heed
“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”
2 Timotby 4:3-4
“The problem is not wolves at the door but termites in the floor.”
Os Guinness
Truth is the agreement of our ideas with the ideas of God.”
Jonathan Edwards
“We should steer clear of theological wrangling that is speculative (goes beyond scripture), vain (more about being right than being helpful), endless (no real answer is possible or desired), and needless (mere semantics).”
Kevin De Young, Where and How Do We Draw the Line?
“A casual, take-it-or-leave-it attitude about theology is totally incompatible with h o w we are t o receive the word o f God. Its contents may call for trembling and tearing of clothes, but never shrugging.”
Gavin Ortlund, Finding the Right Hills to Die On
“Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace.”
Timothy Keller
