Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before His Presence with singing. Enter His Gates with thanksgiving, and into His Courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him and bless His Name, for the Lord is good. His Mercy is everlasting, and His Truth endures to all generations.
Hi. This is Reverend Kenn Blanchard. Welcome back to Speak Life Church. This week we’re going to be hittin’ the Church of Thyatira in the Book of Revelation. And, I got some apologetic questions I’m going to answer. It might be kind of hostile, but that’s not my intention. I’m just sharing, but you’ll see what I mean when we get there. Amen? This show is dedicated to you in the hopes of encouraging your spirit, feeding your faith, and blessing your life.
Heavenly Father, somebody came to listen to a word. Somebody came for a message. Somebody came to hear from You. Somebody came to learn more of You. Somebody needs You, right now, Lord God. We need You right now. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Thy Sight, oh Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer. Father God, I just thank You for today. I thank You for all that You have let my eyes see and my ears hear. Help us, Lord God, to hear from You today. Help us to feel Your Presence. I humbly ask that You forgive us of all of the things we’ve done against You in Your Sight. Help me to do Thy Will today. Help me to reach out to somebody new. Help me to encourage somebody old. Help me, Lord God, to do what You’ve called Your servant to do. This is my prayer. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, The Christ I pray. Amen.
Good people, I am just so happy to be back on the microphone, and hopefully, it sounds even better than last week. I’ve got some more gizmos that I plugged into it, and I’m diggin’ the sound. I don’t hear the hiss I was hearing before. You might’ve never heard it, but…..I’m becoming an audio snob. Now that I’m working on becoming a voice actor, I’ve learned some stuff. I’ve got a couple more classes left, and a coach, and a demo tape to do. I’m kind of excited about it. Sarah, if you’re listenin’ —and I know you are — she’s been doing a cracker-jack job in our transcribing, and you can now go to speaklifechurch.net and get the show notes following the episode. It might be a few days or a week after, but the site has been updated, and I’m hoping you will find that there is a new subscription link where I’m asking all of us to sign on so that I can send you out collective newsletters and emails and prayer requests and things like that, as a church, all right? Because one of the things I want to do in October is get us together for a Zoom call, a prayer thing, a talk-and-answer just to share. We’re going to use technology to the next level. I’ll need your email addresses for that. So, go to speaklifechurch.net and sign up!
All right, this week, we’re talking about the Church of Thyatira: Revelation 2:18-29. The city of Thyatira was probably founded by Alexander the Great some 300 years before Christ. It was a wealthy city in Macedonia noted in the ancient world for its outstanding color dyes. Yeah, for the color it made for clothes. It has been suggested that the city was evangelized by the Ephesian Church or perhaps by Paul’s first convert in Philippi named Lydia. You’ll find that in Acts 16:14. The main characteristic of this church seems to be its works towards people rather than its doctrinal belief. In fact, as we will see, it was indicted for permitting a false teacher to spread her “soul-damning heresy.” It’s known as the Pagan Church. It happened in 606 to the Tribulation, so we could be in the Dark Ages, or the Pagan Church Age, right now. If you’re reading the text, it says, “I know your deeds, your love, and your faith, your service, and your perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.” That’s the commendation that Christ gives. The condemnation is, “You tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teachings, she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols.” His counsel: “Only hold on to what you have until I come.” The challenge: “To him who overcomes and does My Will until the end, I will give authority over the nations. 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. I will also give him the morning star.” All right, I said the Church of the Dark Ages, which indicates that the program I’m merging paganism with Christianity, which began under the Church of Pergamum increasingly emphasized paganism in which is darkness. The Light Jesus Christ has and entrusted to His Church all but flickered out during the Dark Ages, and was not rekindled until the Day of the Reformation. If you continue the history of the Church where we left off with the Church of Pergamum, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that happened, that was added to the “church” during this period from 606A.D. up until 1965A.D. Want me to tell you what they are? Here’s some stuff that was added to the “church”:
607A.D. — Boniface III was made the first Pope
709A.D. — kissing the Pope’s foot
786A.D. — worshipping of images and relics
850A.D. — the use of holy water began
995A.D. — the canonization of dead saints
998A.D. — fasting on Fridays and during Lent
1079A.D. – celibacy of the priesthood
1090A.D. – prayer beads
1184A.D. – the Inquisition
1190A.D. – sail of indulgences
1215A.D. – transubstantiation (Communion “blood” becoming true blood of Christ)
1220A.D. – adoration of the wafer host
1229A.D. – Bible forbidden to laypeople
1414A.D. – the cup forbidden to people at Communion
1439A.D. – Doctrine of Purgatory decreed
1439A.D. – Doctrine of Seven Sacraments affirmed
1508A.D. – The Ava Maria approved
1534A.D. – Jesuit order founded
1545A.D. – church granted equal authority with The Bible
1546A.D. – Apocryphal books were put into the Bible of this church
1854A.D. – the Immaculate Conception of Mary
1864A.D. – the Syllabus of Errors was proclaimed
1870A.D. – the infallibility of the Pope was declared
1930A.D. – public schools condemned
1950A.D. – the Assumption of the Virgin Mary
1965A.D. – Mary proclaimed Mother of the Church
Since all of the stuff I just said can be substantiated by history, it seems ironic that the Church of Rome today likes to boast that Rome is always the same. The tragedy is that in spite of the drastic changes I just mentioned, many believe that to be true.
Thyatira comes from two words meaning “sacrifice” and “continual.” Continual sacrifice. This introduces the central heresy that has produced other false doctrines, that is, the Church of Rome denies the finished Work of Christ, but believes in the continuing sacrifice that produces such things as sacraments and praying for the dead, burning candles and stuff. All of these were borrowed from mystery Babylon — the mother of all pagan customs and idolatry, none of which is taught in the New Testament. During this period between 607A.D. up until today, the universal — dare I say it? — Catholic Church headquartered in Rome gradually became more Babylonian than Christian. Heresy falls into one of two basic categories: a false concept of the personal deity of Christ or mixing works with faith. The Church of Rome can scarcely be accused of teaching a false concept of the personal deity of Christ, however, their emphasis on the continual sacrifice and rejection of our Lord’s Finished Work breeds a concept that causes people to try to earn their own salvation by works, penance, indulgences, and many other Satan-like conceived ideas — labeled by our Lord in Revelation 2:24 as “Satan’s so-called deep secrets.” One of the dangerous trends during the 20th century in the Church of Rome is the elevation of Mary to a status just short of deity. News media reports indicate that millions have petitioned the Pope to declare her a member of the Trinity, though the official line is that that is not going to happen….yet, although she is referred to as the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven, and in some instances appears to be the Dispenser of Salvation — which contradicts many Scriptures. Notice Jesus’s own Words in 14:6 — “I Am The Way, and The Truth, and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” So, to even suggest that anybody, even his Ma, participates in dispensing the gift of eternal life is not only heresy, it’s blasphemous. As the apostle Peter was speaking exclusively of Jesus as the official dispenser of salvation said, “There is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) Scripturally speaking, there is only one person under Heaven who dispenses salvation to humankind, and it ain’t Mary. And, for the record, if you happen to be Roman Catholic and listening, I don’t know what to tell you other than I’m not assaulting you. I’m just giving you what I know. If you ever go to Mexico City, and you get the chance to see the largest Roman cathedral on the North America continent — it’s called the Shrine of Guadalupe — you will see some seriously Pagan rituals being done there. They’ve got a thing called penance, and when it happens, people crawl around on their hands and knees for hundreds of yards on concrete, which causes gashes and blood on their knees and hands, in an effort to punish themselves, whereas the Scripture teaches “for it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and it’s not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) The room in that church, too, is so dark that photographs can’t be taken, and everything is in a gloomy state. The Bible says in John 3:21, “Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light.” It’s always mysterious, right? The mysterious nature of the service could be seen in the fact that individuals could not understand the Latin being spoken during the mass, and no message was given in any language they could recognize. Parents came to the glass-encased form representing a dead saint thinking that, by rubbing the casket or placing an offering in the slot provided, they could rub blessings on the forehead of their infant children or other loved ones. In contrast, the Lord Jesus talked about those who hear the Word and understand it in Matthew 13:23. Idolatry, straight up.
Prominently located on every wall were idols representing Christ, the apostles, or other saints. You could see lots of them — seventeen! And though idolatry is typically a pagan worship, it is forbidden in The Bible. All the way back to Exodus 24 where it says, “you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in Heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below.” Chanting, during the service, much chanting was performed by the priest. Individuals who had come to worship prayed by saying the same word, over and over again, whether they knew its meaning or not. And, by contrast, our Lord has warned, “when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” (Matthew 6:7) The cross, the crucifix well-known in Roman forms of worship, was all that could be seen of our Blessed Lord. Whereas the Scriptures speak not of “continuing sacrifice” but in the words of Christ Himself speaking of the sacrifice, “It is finished,” He said. The Angel on the Day of Resurrection, “He is not Here. He has risen just as He said.” (Matthew 28:6) Oh, that these people might recognize the principle conveyed in the Words of our Lord: I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold, I live forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Revelation 1:18) One of the obvious differences between Catholics and Protestants is the Cross they use to symbolize their faith. The Catholic cross usually depicts Christ on the Cross, commemorating his continual sacrifice for our sins. The Protestant Cross is empty, depicting that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) In this text, the character of Christ was revealed. It says, “These are the words of the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and his feet are like burnished bronze. Our Lord’s selection for the title, Son of God, for Himself is the most instructive when compared to chapter 1, verse 13 where He selects the title, Like a Son of Man. These titles are synonymous or interchangeable. It should be born in mind in this day when false teachers are prone to advocate the human nature of Christ at the exclusion of His Divinity. Also, it is instructive to those in the Church of Rome who are prone to think of Him as the Son of Mary. Eyes like blazing fire and feet like burnished stone denotes that Christ is looking with piercing judgment on the Church because she has permitted false teaching to creep into her midst and mislead His servants.
Christ’s commendation of Thyatira comes in the form of six words. (Revelation 2:19) He commends them for their deeds, that’s the first part, indicating that many through Rome’s long history have been faithfully serving Jesus Christ as a result of receiving Him. Two, love — a love for humankind characteristic of this Church. For, in ancient times, hospitals and sanitariums were almost exclusively the work of the church through its nuns and priests. Three, faith. Although it’s not given the prominence of works and love, it nevertheless is a characteristic of that age in church with the main exception noted. Number four: service means ministry. Five, perseverance. It means endurance and speaks of a long time period of this church. Six, “now, doing more than you did at first,” the good works of the Church of Rome — except for those appearance of the Inquisition when many were wantonly murdered — are commendable. It should be born in mind also that the majority of members have been held in ignorance and darkness. Many have been faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ. Some outstanding products of that period are John Wycliffe, John Hus, Girolamo Savonarola, and many others who earned the Crown of Martyrdom because they refused to give up their adherence to the Word of God and Christ Jesus the Lord. In fact, one of the bleakest marks on the history of the Church of Rome was that it burned at the stake men like Wycliffe and Hus, whose only sin was trying to translate The Bible into the mother tongue of the common people. Historically, no jailor has ever kept a prisoner in total confinement the way the Church of Rome kept The Bible from God’s people for over a thousand years. No wonder this age has been called the Dark Ages. The Bible is the light of the world. It is the church’s commission to let that light shine.
Christ’s condemnation in this section says, “Nevertheless I have this against you. You tolerate that woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teachings she misleads My servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.” Out Lord’s condemnation of the Church of Thyatira took two forms. One, He condemned her for permitting a false teacher to enslave or to lead astray His servants, and two, He condemned her for not repenting when she had the opportunity. Who is this Jezebel chick? The Lord reaches back into the Old Testament for the name of a woman who brought Baalism into Israel and perverted the nation, using her as a point of comparison to those who brought paganism and this devilish teaching into the church. Whenever a woman is used symbolically to convey a religious teaching, she always represents a false religion. Our Lord’s parable in Matthew 13:33-35 concerning the woman who took leaven, a symbol of evil, and hid it in three measures of meal “until it worked all through the dough,” is a prophetic glimpse of what took place during that false teaching of this period. The teaching of the false prophetess Jezebel took two forms. The first, by her teachings she misleads my servants into sexual immorality which is a symbol of the idolatry brought in during this period, and two, the eating of food sacrificed to idols, a symbol of the union of the church with the world. During this time, Rome sought to bring the kingdom of the world under the domination of the Pope in Rome, though contrary to the teachings of our Lord who said, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) Church leaders at the time seriously attempted to make her the kingdom of this world. There was an opportunity to repent. It says, “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.” Plenty of opportunity was given to this church to repent. Almost a thousand years was granted. Yet, she is unwilling. Christ’s future judgment of this church: 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. Our Lord, here, predicts that this church and those that are persuaded to follow her false teachings will go into the Great Tribulation, when she will, according to Revelation 17, be the Church of Tribulation. This warning should speak to every Bible-believing Christian in the world about having an entangling affiliation with the ecumenical movement that Pope John, the 23rd made popular through his ecumenical counsel on the concept that all of them will be one. Protestant unbelievers and heretics are advancing this program on every hand. God’s faithful followers should be careful to measure everything according to the stated Word of God, and, if need be, stand by your lonesome. That stuff was just heavy, so I’m going to let that go for the rest of the day. Feel free to rewind and listen again in case I missed some points, and I’m ready for questions if you want to hit me back, attack me, disagree, I can show you where I got it from. Amen?
Christianity is monotheistic. Christians believe in an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent God. We also call him Jehovah. God is a spiritual being who is personable and knowable. God is One, yet existing in three distinct persons: God, the Father. God, the Son. That’s Jesus Christ. And God, the Holy Spirit. Referred to collectively as The Trinity. Jehovah God is said to have many attributes with the most important being love. Christians believe that God speaks to His People, makes promises to His people, and reveals Himself to people. God and the universe are not seen as one. God is believed to be the Creator of the universe and all that is within it. It is also believed that, while God is sovereign and permits evil, He is not its direct cause. The Holy Bible is the divine and inspired Word of God. There are two main divisions in The Bible, the Old Testament and the New. The word itself, “testament” means “covenant” or “agreement.” The Old Testament is an account of a nation, Israel, while the New Testament is an account of a man, Jesus the Christ. There are thirty-nine books in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. According to The Bible, men and women are created in the image of God to share in His Glory. God gives mankind free will. As a result of Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God, sin and rebellion entered into the human race. The Bible teaches that this rebellion separates individuals from God. Because God hates sin yet desires to have a relationship with us, He had to deal with the sin problem. The only way sin could be permanently dealt with was through the Person of Jesus. Jesus was punished and died on a cross to pay the penalty owed by mankind. As a result of His sacrifice, individuals could receive forgiveness for sin. For salvation and freedom from sin, evil, and guilt, one needs only to trust in Jesus the Christ for eternal life. Christianity teaches that no amount of good deeds carried out in this life can help a person gain salvation and eternal life. It is believed that salvation is a gift from God, and to receive this gift, the individual must accept it by faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain for what we do not see, as Hebrews 11:1 says. We read The Bible to learn about God. We believe that God is passionate about every aspect of our lives. The Bible is full of instructions about each area of living — outward and inward. God is believed to forgive anyone who repents. The Bible teaches that salvation is rooted in the grace and love of Jehovah God. Christianity is unique in teaching that a person cannot do anything to win a place in heaven, but rather must accept what Jesus Christ has done on his or her behalf. It is believed that there is hope for everyone, but to receive this gift of salvation and eternal life, we must accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in Him by faith.
The word “Christianity, “ the religion of it, teaches that Jesus Christ is the only way to a relationship with God. Individuals are given the freedom to make a choice for or against Christ. If anyone chooses Jesus the Christ, salvation is secure. If not, the individual makes his or her own choice to not receive salvation and is doomed for Hell. Being a Christian means acknowledging that you have sinned and are in need of God’s forgiveness, and accepting that forgiveness freely offered by Jesus. I’m going to hit you now with some of the most popular question people ask who are skeptic about this whole Christianity thing.
1. Can we really be sure that God exists?
Well, see there are ample proofs in nature that there is a creator, and the evidence for the truth of The Bible assures us that this Creator and God, Christians worship and serve. Theism, the belief that a creator exists who not only made the world but who also has acted in this world, is defensible on philosophical, historical, scientific, and experiential grounds. All the possible objections against the existence of God can be sufficiently answered. Based on these lines of evidence and the absence of legitimate counter evidence, it is rational to conclude that God certainly must exist.
2. What does God say about profanity?
After all, they’re just words, right? Well, let me make sure we’re meaning the same thing by “profanity.” Strictly speaking, profanity means to take God’s name in vain, to profane it. God’s command is that we do not do this because His Name is holy, and should be respected. A lot of what today is called profanity is actually just vulgar speech. It’s really more a matter of propriety that we not speak in that way, and the apostle Paul commands us to avoid “coarse speech” and joking, just in case you wanted to know.
3. I’m a spiritual person already. Why do I need to be a Christian?
Well, being spiritual is not enough. Besides, what do you even mean by “spiritual?” Christianity doesn’t ask us to be spiritual, it demands we obey God while continuing to live as physical beings in the physical world He created.
Okay, now that I’ve officially stirred up the pot, and got you thinking, or maybe gave you exactly what you needed for this week, it’s time to go. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the Presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Just in case I don’t see you again on this side of the river, I will see you, my Brother and Sister, at the Feet of Jesus. Amen. God bless you. Talk to you soon.