From Him With Eyes Like Fire and Feet Like Bronze

Revelation 2:18-29
May 24, 2020
Abraham Hong

Sermon Script

“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches….” These were the first words that the Apostle John heard that day. It was a Sunday, the Lord’s Day, and John was on a remote island, having been banished there, most likely, because of his repentance and faith in Jesus. The voice was loud and it was like a trumpet. John turned to see the voice that was speaking to him. And when he turned, this is what he saw.

He saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When John saw this, when John saw the Lord Jesus Christ, he fell at his feet as though dead. This is how the book of Revelation begins.

Dear Highland, do you see what John saw? As we go through Jesus’ letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, as we wait for his return, and as we are in the middle of this coronavirus pandemic, does the Lord have your ear? I hope so.

I hope that we would know just how personal and serious our true religion really is. I hope that like John we would appropriately fall at Jesus’ feet as though dead. Because he is holy, holy, holy. Because he is the one with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like burnished bronze. This is who Jesus is.

The church in Thyatira lost sight of who Jesus was. They forgot that how his eyes were like a flame of fire. They forgot how his feet were like burnished bronze. The church in Thyatira had love and faith and service and patient endurance. But they were not good at being holy. They tolerated false teaching and immoral behavior. They tolerated a woman in their church who was teaching believers to practice sexual immorality and eat food sacrificed to idols. This woman was a problem. Jesus identified this woman as Jezebel.

The city of Thyatira was known for their manufacturing work and their trade guilds. There was a guild for bakers. There was a guild for potters. There was a guild for dyers of purple (#lydiaofthyatira). There was a guild for bronzesmiths. But here was the thing. Civil life was blended with religious life. These guilds had their gods. And so if you were a bronzesmith in Thyatira and you were invited to a dinner with your guild, you would be expected to participate with loyalty and respect for the sake of your bronzesmith brotherhood. And you would be expected to participate in the food sacrificed to idols and in the sexual immorality that came with all of it. Because you were a bronzesmith in Thyatira. This was the Thyatira way.

And this woman described as Jezebel basically said that this was okay. We don’t know exactly what she taught to the members of the church of Thyatira. She might have said that Jesus would understand their compromise in order to stay in their guilds and put food on the table because Jesus would not want them to suffer for their faith in him. She might have said that it was possible to participate externally but remain Christian internally, that you don’t really have to mean it when you eat food sacrificed to idols, that God will know your true intentions. She might have said that it was okay to sin because God is forgiving and gracious and loving.

But we do know this about her. The woman was a woman of Satan. She taught what some called the deep things of Satan. And the woman brings to mind the infamous Jezebel of the Old Testament. Jezebel was the evil wife of the evil Israelite king Ahab. She worshipped false gods and she influenced God’s people to do the same. She was the one who sought to assassinate the prophet Elijah. She was so wicked and evil that God eventually had her pushed out of a window, trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs.

This was the woman in the Old Testament. This was what the woman in the church of Thyatira was like. And the church tolerated her.

But the Lord did not. Jesus did not tolerate Jezebel. Jesus did not tolerate her false teaching, her idolatry, and her sexual immorality.

Therefore, Jesus dealt with her and dealt with the church of Thyatira. He threw the woman onto a sickbed. He brought tribulation to those who either adhered to her teachings about sexual immorality or directly committed sexual immorality with her. And he struck either her closest allies and most dedicated followers or her very own biological children with death. Jesus actually did this.

Why did he do this? Why did he bring about such serious consequences? The reason why is because Jesus is holy and because Jesus loves his church.

Jesus is the one who has eyes like a flame of fire. And he is the one whose feet are like burnished bronze. His eyes are too pure to look upon sin and evil. His feet are too refined to walk upon sin and wickedness. Our Lord is a consuming fire. Jesus is holy. And Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects and purifies his people. Our Lord desires for us to be holy as he is holy. Our Lord disciplines the one he loves. Jesus loves his church.

This is why Jesus was intolerant of that woman. This is why Jesus was serious with regard to the church in Thyatira. They had love and faith and service and patient endurance. But they lost sight of who Jesus is. How his eyes are like a flame of fire. How his feet are like burnished bronze. And how he greatly loves his church.

Dear Highland, Jesus speaks to you this morning. Do you see what John saw? Does the Lord have your ear?

Dear Highland, let us see Jesus as John did. And let us take him more seriously as we wait for his return. Look at how our God is holy. Look at how he does not tolerate false teaching and sexual immorality. When you see Jesus’ eyes of fire and feet like bronze, do you feel like you should fall at his feet as though dead? I hope so. We ought to tremble in the presence of God with a healthy fear of him - with a fear of the Lord. This is wisdom. Let us see Jesus as John did.

Dear Highland, are there certain sins that you are tolerating in your life? If so, don’t. Don’t laugh along with sin. Don’t let things slide when it comes to sin. Don’t be okay with your sin when your Lord Jesus died for your sin. Instead, repent. Take sin seriously and put sin to death. Because you are holy. You are a new creation. You are united with Christ. So you have eyes like a flame of fire too. Your feet are like burnished bronze as well. Do not see what Jesus would not see. Do not go where Jesus would not go. Do not tolerate what Jesus would not tolerate. This is the kingdom way.

Dear Highland, do you listen to the world when it comes to sin? If so, don’t. Don’t listen to the world. Instead, listen to Jesus. The world will often make sin look normal. And the world will often make righteousness look strange. If you listen enough to the world, then you will start to confuse sin and righteousness and your mind and your heart will be wrong. The good pilgrim looks at sin and considers it strange. And the good pilgrim looks at righteousness and considers it normal. This way of thinking will often go against the world. But you are not listening to the world. You are listening to Jesus.

Dear Highland, do you compromise on things to avoid persecution? If so, don’t. Instead, receive persecution and endure it. The way of Jezebel is enticing because it can make our Christian lives easier. If you compromise, then things might be better for you. But remember that this world is not the ultimate world that will last forever. Remember that persecution is our sharing in Christ’s suffering. And remember that you have resurrection life coming soon in the eternal kingdom of the new heavens and new earth with Jesus. You are already fully blessed. You have nothing to lose. Just hold fast until Jesus returns. He does not lay on you any other burden but this. Hold fast to him.

I would like to end now with a promise of God and with an encouraging little moment between Jesus and John.

Jesus promises you two things in today’s text. Jesus promises you that you will have his exaltation. And Jesus promises you that you will have him.

This is amazing. You will be given authority over the nations. You will reign in the new heavens and new earth with Jesus. You may be persecuted and ridiculed now. You may not have the greatest life here on this old and fading earth. But because Jesus saved you from sin and death, you will be a conqueror with him. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet - under your burnished bronze feet. Praise the Lord.

And you will have Christ himself. This is the most amazing and the most important part of the Christian gospel. You will have Jesus. You will be given the morning star. In Revelation 22:16, Jesus says “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Dear saint, you may not get what you want in this lifetime. But you will get Jesus. And isn’t he the greatest reward of all? You will see Jesus face to face. You will see him with your own eyes of fire. Praise the Lord.

When John saw the Lord Jesus Christ, he fell at his feet as though dead. But Jesus laid his right hand on John. And Jesus said to him, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Did you notice what Jesus did right before he said “Fear not…”? Jesus laid his right hand on John. No social distancing. Just a beautiful and heartwarming act of love and affirmation. This is our God. Dear Highland, God’s right hand is upon you. God’s right hand will uphold you. Do not be afraid. Praise the Lord.

Highland, hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Hear the words of the one who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze. And remember that he who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” And so we say: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria