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ot too many years ago
a young man became the senior pastor of a new church. Many
people joined him who had a passion for a biblically based
church that taught scripture verse-by-verse. He was friendly
and charismatic and had a wonderful zeal to minister to all
age groups. The church had home Bible studies throughout the
week (They are also called flocks, small groups, cell groups,
or care groups in other churches). One day as we were talking
about the church, he made it clear that he believed the Bible
did not apply to him. He felt it was okay to ignore parts of the Bible
when they were inconvenient. The young man’s words revealed
his true character. He did not honor the Bible as the words
of God. God’s Word did not have absolute authority over
him. He would teach one thing to the people in the church and
when he wanted to, he would ignore it in his own life.
City of Thyatira.
The church of Thyatira had leaders very much like this young
man. The young man hid his view from his congregation. But
some leaders in the church at Thyatira were actively teaching
things contrary to the Bible. We will see in a few minutes
what was being taught.
The city of Thyatira is in ruins today. The modern city of Akihiar surrounds the one square block of what
is left of the ancient city. Now there is nothing left but rubble. Thyatira was famous for its many trade
guilds: wood, dye, linen, leather, bronze-smiths, tanning, coppersmiths, pottery, and slave trading. The
ruins are located in a valley that has no natural defenses.
The first Christian from Thyatira appears to be a woman, Lydia,
who had come to the city of Philippi to sell purple fabrics
(Acts 16:14). There the apostle Paul introduced her to Jesus,
and she responded positively to the wonderful news. From
there the church grew. We do not know how many became Christians;
but by the time God speaks to them through the apostle John,
the church is having serious problems.
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