The Tolerant Church and the Eyes of Fire Text: Revelation 2:18-29
Introduction: The Cancer of Niceness
We live in an age where the highest virtue, the only unforgivable sin to violate, is the virtue of tolerance. Our culture preaches the gospel of niceness. Be affirming, be accepting, be inclusive. Whatever you do, do not judge. This sentiment has not just seeped into the Church; it has flooded it. We have become so allergic to confrontation that we would rather watch a brother walk off a cliff than risk the awkwardness of grabbing his arm and telling him he is a fool. We have mistaken cowardice for kindness and called it a fruit of the Spirit.
The letter to the church in Thyatira is therefore a letter written directly to the modern Western church. It is a bucket of ice water in the face of our sleepy, sentimental accommodationism. Of the seven churches, Thyatira receives the longest letter. It is a church that, on the surface, looks remarkably successful. It is a growing, loving, active congregation. They are doing more at the end than they were at the beginning. By all the metrics of the modern church growth movement, Thyatira was a success story. And yet, a foul cancer was growing in its vitals, and the Lord Jesus Christ, the head of the Church, was about to perform some radical, painful surgery.
This letter teaches us that a church can be busy, it can be zealous, it can be loving, and it can still be under the severe judgment of God for one central sin: the sin of tolerance. Not tolerance of quirky personalities or different worship style preferences, but tolerance of flagrant, destructive, soul-damning error. They were tolerating a false teacher in their midst, a prophetess likened to the most wicked woman in the Old Testament, and their refusal to deal with it was about to bring the whole house down. This is a lesson we must learn, lest our desire to be nice ends up with us being judged as wicked.
The Text
"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: This is what the Son of God, the One who has eyes like a flame of fire and His feet are like burnished bronze, says: ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your last deeds are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives My slaves so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent, and she does not wish to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not have this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them, I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’"
(Revelation 2:18-29 LSB)
The Piercing Gaze of the Son of God (v. 18)
The letter begins with a fearsome self-description of the sender.
"This is what the Son of God, the One who has eyes like a flame of fire and His feet are like burnished bronze, says:" (Revelation 2:18)
Jesus Christ does not introduce Himself here as a gentle shepherd or a humble servant. He comes as a judge. He is the "Son of God," a title emphasizing His divine authority and power. This is the one who has the right to inspect, to evaluate, and to pass sentence. And His inspection is utterly terrifying. His eyes are "like a flame of fire." This is not a poetic flourish. It means His gaze penetrates every facade, every pious excuse, every dark corner of the heart. He sees things as they actually are. Fire both illuminates and purifies, or it consumes. There is no hiding from this gaze.
His feet are "like burnished bronze," glowing as if in a furnace. This speaks of His unyielding strength and His capacity to trample His enemies. Bronze in the Old Testament was associated with judgment. The altar of burnt offering was made of bronze. These are the feet of a divine warrior, standing immovably in His own house, ready to tread down all that is impure. This is the Christ who is walking among His churches, and He is not carrying a clipboard for a friendly evaluation. He is armed for judgment, and He is starting with His own people.
A Commendation with a Caveat (v. 19)
Before the hammer falls, Christ gives a genuine commendation. This is important. He is not a fault-finder by nature. He sees and acknowledges the good.
"‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your last deeds are greater than at first.’" (Revelation 2:19 LSB)
This was, by all appearances, a healthy church. They were not lazy; they had deeds. They were not cold; they had love. They were not faithless; they had faith. They were not self-serving; they had service. They were not quitters; they had perseverance. More than that, they were growing in these graces. Their last deeds were greater than their first. They were on an upward trajectory. This is the kind of church report that would make any pastor swell with pride.
But this is precisely the danger. It is possible to be doing many, many good things, even growing in them, while tolerating a single, fatal compromise. Outward success can mask inward rot. The Lord’s commendation is real, but it also serves to sharpen the rebuke that follows. He is saying, "I see all this good fruit. Which makes it all the more inexcusable that you are allowing this poison to flourish in your midst."
The Tolerated Infection (v. 20-23)
Here we come to the heart of the matter, the charge that Christ lays against them.
"But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and deceives My slaves so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols." (Revelation 2:20 LSB)
The sin is not that Jezebel existed, but that they "tolerate" her. The Greek word means to permit, to allow, to let be. The elders of this church were failing in their most basic duty: to protect the flock from wolves. Whether "Jezebel" was this woman's actual name or a symbolic one, the reference is clear. The Old Testament Jezebel was the pagan wife of King Ahab who systematically imported Baal worship into Israel, murdering God's prophets and seducing the nation into idolatry. This New Testament Jezebel is doing the same thing. She claims spiritual authority ("calls herself a prophetess") and uses it to lead God's people into pagan compromise.
The specific sins are sexual immorality and eating food sacrificed to idols. In a city like Thyatira, known for its trade guilds, this was a potent temptation. To get ahead in business, you had to be part of the guild. Guild meetings were held in pagan temples and involved feasts dedicated to the patron deity, feasts which often devolved into sexual debauchery. Jezebel was likely teaching a "sophisticated" Gnosticism, arguing that since the body is just a meat-shell, what you do with it doesn't matter. You can go to the parties, eat the meat, sleep with the temple prostitutes, and still be "spiritual." It was a gospel of cheap grace and worldly compromise. It was a lie from the pit of Hell, and the church was tolerating it.
Christ’s response is severe. He gave her time to repent, but she was obstinate. So judgment will fall, and it will be specific and public.
"Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds." (Revelation 2:22-23 LSB)
The punishment fits the crime. For the bed of adultery, she gets a bed of sickness. For those who joined her in spiritual and physical adultery, "great tribulation." For her "children," that is, her disciples who followed her teaching, death by pestilence. This is not gentle. This is holy violence. And the purpose is stated plainly: "that all the churches will know." God makes an example of the compromising church so that every other church will be filled with a holy fear. He wants them to know that He sees everything, He judges impartially, and He will not be mocked.
A Word to the Faithful (v. 24-25)
But not everyone in Thyatira had bowed the knee to Jezebel. Christ now turns to the faithful remnant.
"But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not have this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them, I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come." (Revelation 2:24-25 LSB)
Notice the sneering quote: "the deep things of Satan, as they call them." This was Jezebel's own marketing. She was peddling her teaching as some kind of profound, secret knowledge, a Gnostic insight that put her followers above the simple moral rules for ordinary Christians. Christ re-labels it for what it is: not the deep things of God, but the deep things of Satan. It is satanic to teach that sin can lead to spiritual enlightenment.
To the faithful who have resisted this demonic foolishness, Christ gives a simple command. He doesn't lay some heavy new task on them. He simply says, "hold fast." Persevere. Don't give up the ground you currently occupy. Sometimes the most heroic thing a Christian can do is to simply stand firm in the truth when everyone around them is compromising. Hold on until He comes, whether that is His coming in judgment on that generation or His final coming at the end of the age.
The Overcomer's Reward (v. 26-29)
The letter concludes, as they all do, with a glorious promise to the one who overcomes.
"And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS; AND HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have received authority from My Father; and I will give him the morning star." (Revelation 2:26-28 LSB)
This is a staggering promise. Those who refuse to compromise with the paganism of the Thyatiran trade guilds are promised authority over all the pagan nations. This is a direct quote from Psalm 2, a messianic psalm about the Son's inheritance of the nations. Christ says that He will share His dominion with His faithful people. The "rod of iron" is not about petty tyranny; it is about the triumphant advance of the Gospel. It is the power of the Word of God to shatter the rebellious, idolatrous cultures of man, breaking them to pieces like a potter's vessel, so that they can be remade for His glory. This is a postmillennial promise. The saints, by their faithfulness, participate in Christ's conquest of the world.
And the final promise is the most intimate. "I will give him the morning star." In the last chapter of this very book, Jesus identifies Himself as "the bright and morning star" (Rev. 22:16). The ultimate reward for overcoming, for holding fast, for choosing Christ over Jezebel, is not a crown or a throne or a kingdom, but Christ Himself. He will give Himself to us in a fuller and more glorious way. All the other rewards are just details.
The letter ends with the familiar refrain: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." This is not just for Thyatira. This is for us. We are being called to listen, to take heed, and to examine our own hearts and our own churches. Where are we tolerating Jezebel? Where have we made peace with the world's idolatry and immorality for the sake of comfort, or profit, or a desire to be seen as "nice"? Christ is walking among us with eyes of fire, and He is calling us to repent, to hold fast, and to overcome.