While I was in seminary, Gibtown Baptist Church called me to be their pastor. Looking back, the process was fairly simple. After preaching Sunday’s sermon, the three deacons of the church stopped me in the aisle and asked if I’d be the church’s pastor. I told them I’d pray about it for a week, come back and preach and let the church vote. The next Sunday I preached and the fifteen members in attendance voted for me to be their pastor.

There are times Loree and I reminisce about our days at Gibtown. While serving there, I often told Loree that I could do so much more if the church was larger. Then, Loree would tell me, “Mark, someday you will be in a church that’s larger, and you will long for the simpler days at Gibtown.” As usual, Loree was right.

One of the things I miss most from our days at Gibtown is how simple communication was. If the church needed to know anything, I could call one family and in a matter of minutes the other seven families or so were informed. Furthermore, because the message didn’t have to be repeated again and again, it wasn’t changed much when shared. In larger churches, it takes longer for a message to be heard and many times it gets distorted in translation. That’s why it’s better if members can read a message instead of just hear it.

That’s probably why God has placed His messages to the seven churches in print. Sure, He could have sent a messenger to each and communicated directly (much like the phone chain at Gibtown). However, God placed His messages in print realizing that far more than seven churches would need to hear them. That’s why we will look at memos four and five. God knows that today’s churches need to read, understand and heed them.

MEMO #4
Fear God and Hold On

God’s fourth memo was sent to His church in Thyatira. The name of the city today is Akhisar. Just as it was then, the city remains one of the smallest of the seven, and yet God deemed it necessary to send them the longest memo. God knew that His message to that church, and future churches like them, was critical. He knew if churches didn’t fear Him and hold on, more would become like the one in Thyatira. In verses 18-19, God says,

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

“These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.”

Verse 18 reminds the believers of the way Jesus is seen in Revelation 1:12-16. He is the all-knowing judge. His eyes burn away every lie. You bow at His feet as He sees and judges what is true. What Jesus sees in the church in Thyatira seems impressive, especially when compared to other churches.

Verse 19 states that like the church in Ephesus, the believers in Thyatira are responsible. God knows their deeds and service. The difference is Thyatira has not lost their romance with God. He tells them, “I know your love.” Furthermore, like the church in Smyrna, Jesus’ followers in Thyatira are suffering, yet they are remaining faithful to God and are persevering. The greatest compliment comes at the end of verse 19. God tells them, “You are now doing more than you did at first.” The church in Thyatira is growing.

The common statement among church growth consultants is growing churches are healthy churches. Though that is true some of the time, it’s not true all of the time. Dr. Warren Hultgren, pastor and pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for over fifty years, once told me, “Mark, it’s best to resolve problems while they’re small. For when a church grows, the problem grows with them.”

There was a problem in the church at Thyatira that needed to be resolved. As the church was growing, so was their problem. God addresses it in verses 20-21.

20 “Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.”

The issue in Ephesus was that the believers emphasized responsibility over love. They lived truth without grace. In Thyatira, the church emphasized love over responsibility. They lived grace without truth.

History records and Scripture states that churches who emphasize grace over truth will grow. In 2 Timothy 4:2-5, God says that people will give up sound doctrine for a “feel good” message. Every generation has had preachers using God’s name and God’s Word to tell the people what they want to hear. Most of the time, they are able to gather a large crowd of followers. Therefore, be careful of a dangerous misconception. The growth of a church doesn’t always mean there’s godliness throughout the church.

The issue in Thyatira was with a woman God has labeled as Jezebel. Though this is not her real name it is the true nature of her heart. For like Queen Jezebel of the Old Testament, this woman was influential in corrupting God’s people and leading them into idolatry and immorality (1 Kings 16-21; 2 Kings 9). Like Queen Jezebel, she had no fear of God. Though God had given her time to repent, she refused.

Many like this woman in Thyatira misread God. In your heart, you know God is calling you to repent of a specific sin. Yet you keep on sinning. And because you receive no punishment from God, you think one of the following. You think God has either forgotten about it, has decided to allow it, or actually approves of it. God has never responded to sin any of these ways. However, Scripture does cite occasions when God has been patient, even longsuffering, with our sin hoping we would repent.

When we don’t repent, in time, God will act. When God acts, we will become His message to others. His message will be clear that we had better fear God and hold on. You see this in verses 22-23:

22 “So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

God’s actions are strong. He first casts this Jezebel on a bed. The words “of suffering” are not in the original text, though it is fair to imply them. God didn’t put her there for a nap. Furthermore, those that share this sin with her will also share the suffering. The suffering they will receive is the same intense suffering the believers in Smyrna received. It’s the Greek word for “tribulation.” The difference is that the believers in Smyrna were feeling it from the hand of the godless. The believers in Thyatira were feeling it from the hand of God.

Finally, God knows illegitimate doctrines often give birth to illegitimate children. Some believe that the Church in Thyatira was 40 years old when they received this letter. God has allowed this false teaching to go on long enough to allow those deceived by Jezebel to deceive others. Thus when false doctrines prevent full surrender, God refuses to render salvation. Unless those under Jezebel’s teaching repent, God promises that they will never experience life with God.

Therefore, it is important to determine if the doctrines you are being taught are legitimate or illegitimate. When you receive biblical teaching from a church leader, pastor or particular faith, ask the following.

First, “Is the Bible they hold the Bible God wrote?” Our study of Revelation 1 revealed that God inspired around 40 different authors over the span of 1500 years to write the Bible. The fulfillment of prophesies not only affirms God’s authorship, but points to Jesus alone as Lord. However, there are some who will hold in their hand a book they call the Bible. It is one man’s alterations of what God inspired the original authors to write. The premise of such a work implies that an all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect God couldn’t get it right the first time. Furthermore, it also implies that though Hebrews 6:18 says it’s impossible for God to lie, He did. God says in Matthew 5:18 and Revelation 22:19 that nothing is to be changed or taken away from what He has written. Thus when anyone says that God inspired another man to change what God originally wrote, either that person is a liar or God is—and I trust God.

Second, “How much of the Bible is in their message?” The difference between an inspiring speech and a message inspired by God is the Word of God. Those who deliver speeches will reference God’s Word to endorse what they say. But those who deliver messages from God get what they say from God’s Word. For them, the Bible is not a footnote to a speech. It is the message to be delivered. That is why God’s charge to pastors in 2 Timothy 4:2 is not to “Use the Word!” It is to “Preach the Word!” Therefore next time you listen to a preacher preach, ask yourself, “How much of the Bible is in his message?

Third, “Does his message agree with all of the Bible?” Be leery of the pastor who fits a lot of scripture in his sermon, but uses it in a way that doesn’t fit the message of the Bible. Preachers are charged in 2 Timothy 2:15 to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” The Greek word translated “correctly handles” was a seamstress’s term for “cutting straight.” A skilled seamstress knows that in preparing a dress each piece needs to be accurately cut from the material. A wrong cut produces a worthless dress. Therefore when a passage is cut straight from the fabric of God’s Word, it should fit what God has said within its chapter. It should fit what God has said within the book. It should fit what God has said throughout the Bible. And then, when you apply it to your life, you know it fits.

When God wrote His memo to the believers in Thyatira, He realized their problem would be a problem for other churches as well. Therefore, He not only charged them to fear God, He also commanded them to “hold on.” Look at verses 24-29:

24 “Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.

26 “To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations-

27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery’-

just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

The Greek word (krateo) translated “hold on” is a strong word. It indicates that being faithful to God and His Word is not going to be easy. Therefore God provides the following encouragement.

In verses 25-27, God tells those faithful to Him, “Hang on! I’m coming.”

He says in verse 25, “Only hold on to what you have until I come.” Verses 26-27 describe what the faithful will experience when He comes. Those pressed down for Christ will be lifted up with Christ. This will not be a local or national deliverance, but a global one. Furthermore, you’ll not only experience deliverance, but you will also be in the presence of your deliverer. According to verse 28 and Revelation 22:16, you will be with Jesus. These verses call Him your “morning star.” In short these verses encourage you to hang on, because it won’t always be this way.

I never realized how powerful that assurance can be until Loree and I went through a painful period of depression. Four surgeries, medical complications, and painful physical therapy had taken its toll on Loree. Taking this journey with Loree while being the pastor of a challenging church and going through the rigors of a Ph. D. program had taken its toll on me. We were both experiencing the pain of depression. We talked to friends and family, looking for a message of hope. Hope finally came when a minister and counselor told us, “You won’t always feel this way. It won’t always be this way.” They gave us the strength to hang on and overcome.

In this memo to Thyatira, God says, “Fear me! When I convict you to repent, repent! Out of fear and reverence for me, distance yourself from the deceivers and stay faithful. It won’t be easy to stay faithful, but hang on. It won’t always be this way. You will overcome. And we will be together. So again, hang on.”

MEMO #5
Wake Up! Your Reputation is Killing You!

As you read each memo, it seems that the condition of each church gets progressively worse.

Ephesus had lost their romance with God
Smyrna was losing their strength in God
Pergamum was beginning to compromise with God.
Thyatira had compromised their life with God
Sardis was pronounced dead by God.

In case you missed it, here are the fatal steps that can lead to the death of a church.

When you lose your love, you’ll lose your strength.
When you lose your strength you’ll lose your resolve.
When you lose your resolve, you’ll lose your life.

You would think that a church could tell when their life with God was getting weaker. You would think that the believers in Sardis would have recognized that something was wrong and sought God’s help. But they didn’t. They didn’t because they thought a healthy reputation meant a healthy life. In Revelation 3:1, God tells them otherwise.

1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”

God’s greeting to the church in Sardis is different than His greetings to Ephesus, Pergamum, and Thyatira. To these other churches, He uses the imagery in Revelation 1:12-20 that describes Jesus as the Supreme Judge. Sardis would eagerly welcome words from the Supreme Judge because they feel they’ve done nothing wrong.

Instead, God tells them that the One speaking to them is the one who holds the seven spirits. Scholars attach this statement with Isaiah 11:2. Foretelling the attributes of the Holy Spirit seen in Jesus, it states,

2 “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.”

God was telling Sardis what they are about to hear doesn’t come from the Supreme Judge, but from the all-knowing, sovereign God. God says, “You are dead!”

More specifically, God tells them, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Before they could cite the history of what they have done, and list to God what they are doing, God says, “I know all about your deeds and your reputation. I’m all-knowing! Therefore, I KNOW you’re dead.”

Tragically, God knows when a church is dead long before the members do. A friend once told me of a bizarre experience. A church in Chicago asked for his help as a consultant. He was to preach the morning sermon and then meet with key leaders. The church had a prestigious name because of a great history. Stepping into the facilities, he noticed they were old, but well kept. As he addressed the congregation, his voice echoed in a sanctuary that once held well over a thousand, but on that day less than two dozen were in attendance Confusing to him was the fact that though they worshipped together, they didn’t sit together.

All in the service met with him afterwards. In the course of their discussion, he asked them, “Why don’t you at least sit together when you worship?” “Oh, we couldn’t do that,” they replied. Then they began to list all the names of those who had once sat there but had died. The church had died years ago, but the members didn’t know it. Like a well dressed corpse, their reputation made them look good, but they were still dead. Just as a lifeless body will physically deteriorate with time, in time the empty pews revealed to them what God had known—they were dead.

Surprisingly, there is hope for the church in Sardis or God would not have sent them this memo. Therefore, there is hope for churches who are spiritually dead if they recognize the signs soon enough. For the church in Sardis, and other churches like her, there are two signs.

Sign #1: An Increase in Satisfaction The church in Sardis, like the city, became satisfied, and satisfaction led to its downfall. As for the city, it was built on a ridge jutting out from Mount Tmolus 1500 feet up. Three sides of the ridge were smooth rock walls which made residents feel safe from any attack. The city had only fallen twice in its history. Both times the sentries didn’t do their job. The city’s famed reputation for being impregnable increased the sentries’ sense of satisfaction. All had been well for so long there was no need to stay alert on the job. The city’s own reputation killed her.

What happened to this city happens to many churches—death by reputation. By length of years, a church develops a reputation for staying alive. Through various ministries, a church builds a reputation for being alive. Yet when the reputation of a church produces satisfaction within the church, that satisfaction becomes fatal. People begin to mistake lives and activities for life and vitality.

As the old farmer will tell you, “When you can take the biggest hen in the hen house and cut off its head, it may still be the biggest hen, and for a while the most active hen. But, make no mistake. It’s still dead.”

Sign #2: A Decrease in Satan’s Attention When you look at God’s memo to the believers in Sardis and compare it to His other memos, something is missing. There’s no reference to Satan. In verse 9, Smyrna was suffering from the slander of the Jews. Jesus said that Satan was the one behind the slander as He said it was coming from the “synagogue of Satan.” In verse 13, believers in Pergamum were resisting the Roman culture. Remember, Pergamum was the Roman capital for Asia Minor. So, Jesus says that the source of cultural attacks was coming from “Satan’s throne.” And in verse 24, Thyatira’s theology was under attack by what Jesus calls, “the secret things of Satan.” Yet Satan gives no attention to the believers in Sardis. Why should He? They’re dead.

Corrie ten Boom said it well, “Satan wastes no ammunitions on those who are dead....”¹ Therefore, if a church is not being slandered by the lost, pressured by the culture, or challenged by false teachers, she ought to check her pulse. She’s probably dead.

Furthermore, if a church is dead, you can be certain that God will do something about it. His immediate actions are explained in verses 2-3. God tells the church in Thyatira,

2 “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

His first actions are to give the church in Thyatira a message and a massage. This is not to be confused with the gentle hand of your mother rubbing your back in the morning and sweetly saying, “Wake up.” It’s more the picture of a drill sergeant leaning over a soldier asleep at the post and yelling in his or her ear, “WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” The sergeant keeps doing this until the troop is fully awake, energized and is where they need to be doing their job. That’s the Greek imperative command for he word “Wake up!” Furthermore, it’s not surprising that Jesus uses this same imperative command in Matthew 24:42 and Mark 13:35. On both accounts, Jesus is telling His followers to stay awake, active, and on the job, for they do not know when He will return.

Along with this strong message comes a life saving massage. Thyatira is told, “Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.”

On September 8, 1941, Time Magazine printed an article entitled “How to Revive the Dead.” Dr. Hamilton Bailey, of London’s Royal Northern Hospital, said the normal practice of reviving a lifeless heart was to inject it with adrenalin. However, during his 22 years as a surgeon he had employed the practice of opening the chest and massaging the heart. He had massaged forty hearts in his career, reviving four of them. Yet because this practice was so new in his day, he believed many more would have been revived if the massaging had started sooner.²

God refuses to let a church die without a fight. His initial command to “Wake up!” is like His shot of adrenalin. God’s second imperative, “Strengthen what remains and is about to die,” begins His act of massaging the heart of a dead church. Though by all indications the church is dead, God knows it’s not too late to be revived. Furthermore, God says, “I have not found your deeds complete.”

Here’s the full picture. When God discovers a dead church, He pounds on the heart of the church yelling, “Wake up!” Then, He places the very heart of the church in His hands and begins to massage. As He massages, He tells the church, “I have not found your deeds complete—I’m not finished with you yet.”

God’s massaging technique is explained in verse 3. He massages the heart of a church trying to bring it back to life through remembrance, obedience, and repentance. When a church remembers what they’ve heard and received from God’s Word, when they obey God completely and return to Him fully, a dead church comes back to life.

In my years as a pastor, I can recall moments in the churches I’ve served when it seemed we were fully alive with God. Those special moments had this in common. It was a time when the church as a whole was fully open and obedient to God. Each of us as members was awake and watchful. God was allowed to do what He wanted, whenever He wanted. What God did was amazing, and we were all in awe over how little effort it took on our part. All we needed to do was be open and obedient to God. All we needed was to be alive in His hands.

However, not every church wants to respond to God’s message and massage. Therefore in verses 4-6, God describes the consequences of churches that remain spiritually dead.

4 “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Verses 4-6 imply that God has already delivered His message and massage to the church in Sardis, and not all have responded. Those who did are those who have overcome. According to 1 John 5:1-4, they are the ones who have truly surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. Verse 5 repeats what Jesus said in Matthew 10:32, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” Their name is written in and will forever stay in the book of life. And in Revelation 20:11-15, only those whose name is written in the book of life enter heaven.

It is frightening today to think that there are many churches today like the church in Sardis. They are spiritually dead. And after God’s message and message to the heart of the church, it’s evident why they are dead. Most within the church have never truly surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. One of the largest and most overlooked fields of lostness resides in our churches. Just because you attend church doesn’t mean you are alive in Christ. Therefore, place a hand on the spiritual pulse of your life and see if you are spiritually dead or spiritually alive in Christ. Remember, your reputation as a Christian won’t save you. Only if you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ will you be spiritually alive.

Saying a Lot with a Little

There are people in life who say little, though they talk a lot. And then there are those who with very few words can say a lot. Unless you love time consuming conversation, you usually like listening to those who can say a lot in a few words. The best at that, of course, is God.

He has written seven memos to seven churches. The longest memo was to the church in Thyatira. Its 286 words could be read in a few minutes. God’s point could be made in one statement—“Fear God and hold fast.”

God’s memo to the church in Sardis was shorter. It contained only 186 words, and yet its message was probably stronger—“Wake up! Your reputation is killing you!”

In both cases God has said a lot with a little. The question remains, will today’s churches do a little or a lot with what God has said?