I Will Repay You According to Your Deeds
(Rev 2:18-29)
All churches on earth have weaknesses. Yet, this doesnt mean that our salvation is insecure because we have been saved 'through our faith, not from ourselves' as in Eph 2:8, Todays passage is about the church in Thyatira, the fourth of the churches in Asia Minor. It shows us that the trial of the church was not from Domitianus, the Roman Emperor but from God who wanted to correct the weaknesses of the church. Thyatira was a small city of commerce and industry, 64km away from the south east of Pergamum, and also the hometown of Lydia, a pioneer of European evangelism. After the Roman Conquest, it became a trade route from a military road. As usual, commercial prosperity led the city into bribery, depravity, and the lewd rituals that the worshippers of other gods enjoyed with their priestesses. Concerning the church in Thyatira, Hemer, a Bible scholar said, 'The longest and most difficult of the seven letters is addressed to the least known, least important, and least remarkable of the cities.' Jesus said 'I will repay each of you according to your deeds.' Lets see what it means.
1. The Son of God will repay us according to our deeds. Revelation chapter 2 describes Jesus as amp#9312 the Son of God 'whose eyes are like blazing fire.' This expression was quite familiar to the people in Thyatira, who had many copper refineries. Thus God watched the adultery of Thyatira with his blazing eyes. amp#9313 the Son of God 'whose feet are like burnished bronze.' He will tramp with his bronze feet the sinners, heavy with the weight of their depravity and bravery. No one will survive His trampling. amp#9314 Jesus is described as 'The Son of God' only in the letter sent to the church in Thyatira. The day when they worshipped Apollo, their sun god was called Sunday. We need to call the day when we go to church The Lords day instead of Sunday.
2. How will the Lord repay?amp#9312 The Lord praised the church for doing more than it did at first (19). He also praised it for its serving, loving, and enduring for Gods sake. A true server takes care of others, standing in their boots, regardless of his own sense of duty or taste like a mother or a servant. Every church needs these helping hands. The most hopeless fellow is merely a participant in the Sunday worship service. God watches over our service and serving acts for others. amp#9313 The Lord rebuked the church for accepting sexual immorality. The church of Ephesus forsook its first love for its orthodox faith, and vice versa with the church in Thyatira. How did the church in Thyatira forsake its faith? It tolerated the adulterous deeds of Jezebel, the false prophetess, which put Gods six praises of the church in the shade. Thus tolerating heresy undermines all our righteous deeds of truth. Gods selected one cant fall into heresy. Our greed leads us to it. Jezebel misled Gods people by her teaching (20). What matters is right guidance. Just as Ahab was urged on by Jezebel his wife (1Kg 21:25), we also can be urged by our Jezebel in the world. So it was with the church in Thyatira despite all its hard effort because of its lack of biblical values. amp#9314 The church in Thyatira refused to repent. God gave the opportunity for the church members to repent of their idolatry. God gave three opportunities for Jezebel to repent when the three-and-a-half year famine ended through Elijahs prayer after the prophets of Baal were dead. Yet Satans people refuse to repent and end up with a miserable death. So when it occurs to you to repent, wherever you are, dont drag your feet to say 'Lord, please forgive me!' God will cleanse your sins.
3. He will repay according to our deeds if we refuse to repent. God will turn our bed of adultery into a sick-bed where we will lie down (22). If we dont, He will not only cast us into great trial but also strike our children dead. This is how God repays according to our deeds. No matter how nice we may look in the world, we have salvation only with God.
4. But theres a promise for the remnant. In the midst of our tough circumstances, we need to focus on our mission holding on to the gospel. (25) Then God will give us the power rule over the nations (26). He will also give us an iron scepter to reveal the darkness of our sin and dash it pieces. And he will let us enjoy the heavenly authority by giving himself, the morning star to us. Heres the testimony from one of our deacons. He suddenly came across his famine while enjoying his heyday as a branch manager of a bank. After retiring from the bank, he was offered a position with an annual salary of 30 million won, which he refused. Later, he became a director of a construction company against his Christian conscience. He lavished his money, showing off himself to his acquaintances. Now he is in charge of seizing the bank account of people in default, who remind him of himself, a man of physical and spiritual bankruptcy. This is a case of being tempted by Jezebel. However, unlike many people who commit suicide, unable to have it, he shared his story in his community and finally became a small group leader. Shouldnt a church be a place of sharing like this? Its not the place for blowing our trumpet of worldly prosperity, where losers are driven to their cave of suicide. God wants us to smash the darkness of adultery with his iron scepter by revealing our sins to Him, sharing them with our community. Have you lost your people, your house, and your children around you? Then hold on to Gods message for you, be a witness of the gospel as the last remainder of His people, and shout to the world to repent and live as you did.
' ...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 (Rev 2:23).'
