Church of Thyatira (Part 4)

                             Don't be stubborn as a mule! (*)

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.                                                        (Rev 2:23)

In our last study, we talked about Balaam and how he wrestled with a weakness--the love of money! We saw how King Balak heard of the fame of Balaam and wanted him to misuse his gift. He offered him great amounts of money, a high position, and power. At first, he resisted and stood his ground but as King Balak kept pressing on him to curse Israel, he was getting weak. God, eventually, allowed Balaam to meet with King Balak but warned him to say what thus saith the Lord.  

Now, you may ask, what has this to do with Rev 2:23? Notice the words searcheth the reins and hearts. God knows what's in your heart. Balaam's heart was not right and God gave him a wake-up call along the way. The angel of the Lord was about to kill him, but the donkey saved his life. God opened the mouth of the ass and Balaam (Believe it or not) argued with the animal. It wasn't until the Lord opened his eyes that he saw the angel of the Lord give him a stern warning.(Numbers 22:21-35)

As we read the end of the story, Balaam meets with King Balak. The King does his best to persuade Balaam. Balaam in turn tries to persuade God to give him permission to curse Israel but a peculiar and strange thing happened. Balaam prophesied blessings for Israel. (Numbers 23-24) At this, King Balak gave up and said that God was the cause of him not having honor nor great riches. (Numbers 24:10-11) The end? Not quite but to be continued. 

                                    Let's make a deal!

but I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.(Rev 2:14)

It was not enough for Balaam to walk away from great fame and fortune. He was so tempted that that thought was nagging at his head. Soon, the devil gave him a satanic idea. He met with King Balak to share his plan. (2 Peter 2:15) This plan pleased King Balak so much that he paid Balaam his wages. What was their plan?

Mixture! That was their stumbling block! Numbers 25 gives us the whole picture of their plan. They would take the best-looking women from Moab and seduce the men of Israel. These women worshipped Baal and got their lovers to partake of these unclean and demon-inspired practices at Baalpeor. For details about this type of worship, click on the link below. (1) Their practices were so unsanitary and were an abomination before the Lord. Those acts caused the death of  24,000 people due to the plague. 

                 Love righteousness and hate iniquity. 

  

Moses killed the leaders responsible for the plague and it freed them from the plague. Brethren, now more than ever, we need to walk in our identity with Christ. The word says...Love righteousness and hate iniquity. Idolatry is a stench in the nostrils of our Lord. 

Would you put your head in the toilet or drink vomit? (Isa 28:7-9, 2 Kings 10:27) Brethren, when you analyze the background of Idolatrous practices, they were unsanitary and putrid. Satan likes to dress sin and make it attractive. When God gives us revelation of what sin truly is, we will hate it as much as God. 

God hated the sin of Idolatry so much that he converted the altar of Baal into a restroom (2 Kings 10:27) It is similar to the altar of Baalpeor which has a depiction of a demon sitting on a toilet. (1) Let's ask God to show what's inside our hearts. Doing so will help us walk in the way of righteousness and be more than a conqueror. For more teachings, check on the link below (2)

(1) Baalpeor

(*) Picture courtesy of Lena Bauermeister, whose work can be found at www.unsplash.com

(2) Bind and loose

Questions to ask--

1- Have you've been pressured to do something in your job that you know is wrong? Have you been offered a promotion if you comply? How did you deal with it? 

2- Have you been pressured to sign for a business deal without praying? 

Prayer---Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me about compromise. Help me to stand strong with my convictions. Holy Spirit, show me what's inside my heart. Examine me in this day and help me to uproot anything that is not like you. I confess that I love righteousness and hate iniquity. Thank you that you are teaching me what to love and what to hate...In Jesus' name. Amen. 

A look at the church of Ephesus--Part 2

 In our last Bible study, we had seen how God used the Apostle Paul to raise up a church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a city where the false God Diana was worshiped. That cult had a large following and its temple seated anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 people. It took Paul three years to establish the church and as a result of his efforts, there was revival.

How revival started in Ephesus.

Before we address how revival started in the city of Ephesus, we will see a series of events that occurred prior to that event. Let’s look at some points—

1. Paul spent some time ministering to twelve men. He made sure they were equipped and ready for the challenge. ( Acts 19:1-7)
2. Paul preached the gospel in the synagogues. He was not afraid to stand up to his beliefs. Unfortunately, many rejected his witness. (Acts 19:8-9)
3. Another door of opportunity opened up for Paul. Tyrannus had a place for Paul to teach the gospel unto others. This, in turn, allowed his students to preach the word and reach many in his surroundings.
4. God confirmed his miracles with signs and wonders (Acts 19:12)
5. An unsaved group of men tried to take upon themselves the casting of demons. The results were disastrous. (Acts 19:14-16)
6. This incident caused the church to examine themselves by the Holy Spirit. The church had allowed the mixture to creep in. They repented and burned all the books that had to do with curious arts such as Magic, Sorcery, and the Occult. (Acts 19:19)
7. The result was the growth of the word of God and souls coming to the kingdom

The backlash

As a result of these events, souls started to get saved and the temple was getting empty. Idolatry was big business and the silversmith industry was getting clobbered. No longer were the idols of Diana being sold. Demetrius led a mob with false accusations to kill Paul and stop this revival, but it backfired. (Acts 19:24-41)

Entering into God’s rest

The church of Ephesus, eventually, prevailed. They went on to exercise great influence on their city. They passed the test and God gave them rest to do his work in that area. Many believers have the mistaken idea that they need to suffer constant attacks from the enemy. It gives them a sense of comfort and assurance of their salvation. Yes, Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy but he can depart from you for a season.

Let’s look at the following points. First, the devil departed from Jesus for a season. (Luke 4:13). Would we conclude that there was something wrong with Jesus because the devil departed from him? No, Jesus passed his testings in the wilderness! The second point to consider is Acts 9:31. The churches had rest for a season. Passing your testings in life will cause Satan to depart from you for a season.

That is why it is so important to pray for those over us. God wants us to lead a quiet and peaceable life. (I Tim 2:1-3). Friends, there are times of rest that God gives us for our benefit. When we pray for those above us, it can influence our leader’s heart and give the church favor.

The third point is pleasing God. You can have a church in the midst of people who hate you. When you start looking to please God and be obedient to his calling, your enemies will be at peace with you. The fear of God will be prevalent and uncommon favor will follow.(Prov 16:7) 

One final point is understanding the word from a military point of view. The word of God calls us soldiers. (2 Tim 2:3) I was in the military myself and understood the importance of rest. Soldiers need time to rest. A much-needed rest will help them to enjoy the fruits of their labors. It will refresh them for the next battle to come.

End result

The end result of God’s rest is victory. The church of Ephesus was so influential that many ministries wanted to get it's stamp of approval. A stamp of approval would mean that they would expand to other areas, but it was not that easy.  The leadership at Ephesus had the gift of discernment. They knew whether the Apostles were sent or not. (Rev 2:1-3)

Another notable achievement with this church was following correct doctrine. The correct doctrine was very important. Discerning the false doctrines of its day–the Nicolaitanes caused the Lord to be pleased with their work. (Rev 2:6) All these achievements would make for a happy ending, but the Lord is not through. He noticed that they had fallen from their first love. In our next study, we will see how the Lord deals with this shortcoming.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian Corner community church.  

 

 

A look at the church of Ephesus...

In our last study, we saw the introduction of the seven candlesticks and stars. The Lord Jesus had appeared unto John in the midst of the candlesticks. He noticed that the Lord had the seven stars in his right hand. This imagery is interesting and symbolic as we will see below–

1. The Holy Spirit defined the stars as angels. The  Greek word for Angels is Aggelos, which means human messengers. These were the Pastors of the churches located in Turkey.
2. The candlesticks were defined as the churches.  There were seven churches mentioned —-

•  Ephesus–The Loveless church
• Smyrna–The Suffering church
• Pergamos–The Worldly church
• Thyatira–The adulterous church
•  Sardis–The dead church.
• Philadelphia–The faithful church
• Laodicea–The Lukewarm church.

The church of Ephesus

For the sake of our studies, we will take a look at the church of Ephesus. It is interesting what we will find described below–

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; (Rev 2:1)

Let’s begin by taking a look at our Lord Jesus. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. He rose up on the third day and is sitting on the right hand of the Father. Sitting is symbolic of rest. He completed his work on earth  There are times in which he has stood up for important events.

One good example was with Stephen. As he was getting ready to be martyred by the mob, he had a vision. Jesus stood up to honor Stephen. (Acts 7:55) In Rev 1:13, we see Jesus standing again in the midst of the candlesticks.

As we turn our attention to Rev 2:1, we see him walking. Jesus wanted to see the whole picture concerning what was happening in the churches. Walking among the churches gave him a better view of existing issues within that area. Let’s look at the following verses below —

I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. (Rev 2:2-3)

Notice how the Lord begins his conversation. I know thy works! The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He starts off commending them for their good works. They labored (Worked hard in the ministry), exercised patience, and hated evil.

A blow against idolatry

It would do the body good to hate evil and love righteousness. It will bring a spirit of joy which, in turn, will give us strength. It gave the church of Ephesus the strength to do God’s work. (Heb 1:9) Joy is a powerful force.

One point to consider is the name of Ephesus. The word Ephesus means desirable. God desired to reach the city of  Ephesus. It was a stronghold for the godess Diana. Its temple housed a great multitude of people. It is believed that it seated about 20,000 to 30,000 people.

Idolatry was big business in that area. It brought great gain in the financial realm. Silversmiths were making good money craving the idol of Diana for the people. The Apostle Paul was sent by God to do his work in that area for about three years. God used him to bring about a mighty revival in that area.

The turning of the people from Diana to God affected the idol trade. Greedy and evil people stirred the mob against Paul, putting his life in peril. (Acts 19) God’s word prevailed, and the church developed tremendous revelation knowledge to win that whole city for the Lord. In our next study, we will see how important it is for believers to enter into God’s rest. We will, also, see some wonderful revelation knowledge that was brought to that church.

Prayer–Dear Lord, help me to apply this lesson to my life. Help me to love righteousness and hate iniquity. Restore the joy of my salvation. Use me to impact my family, community, and society–In Jesus's name. Amen.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church.