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The Church at Thyatira
And
unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith
the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his
feet are like fine brass; 19 I
know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy
patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the
first. 20 Notwithstanding
I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman
Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce
my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
idols. 21 And
I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented
not. 22 Behold,
I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her
into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23 And
I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know
that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give
unto every one of you according to your works. 24 But
unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not
this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they
speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25 But
that which ye have already hold fast till I come. 26 And
he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I
give power over the nations: 27 And
he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter
shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my
Father. 28 And
I will give him the morning star. 29 He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches. (Rev
2:18-29)
God
gives special grace to His called and chosen ministers to hear,
understand, and preach His Word to His people. The prophecies of
Revelation is no exception as, here again, our Lord relates His
written message to His angel of Thyatira. “And
unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write:”
This is the titular head of the assembly of saints there but, bear in
mind, the true Shepherd of His people is the Lord Jesus Christ. The
man standing in the pulpit is no less in need of a Shepherd and
Bishop than the flock to which He preaches: “For
ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd
and Bishop of your souls.”
(1
Peter 2:25)
That Good Shepherd and Bishop of our souls is the Lord Jesus Christ!
Thyatira
was a small city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor located
between Sardis and Pergamos. It lay almost directly south of
Constantinople (Istanbul). It was a city known for its purple dyeing
and worker’s guilds. There is no direct record of how, or by whom,
this church was founded; but we may consider the possibility of the
Gospel being brought to the city by the lady, Lydia, who was the
beneficiary of Paul’s preaching at Philippi. “14 And
a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of
Paul. 15 And
when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us,
saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my
house, and abide there. And she constrained us.”
(Acts
16:14-15 (KJV)
Thyatira
was the smallest of the Seven Churches, yet received the longer
counsel from Christ. “These
things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of
fire, and his feet are like fine brass.” This
definitely is a message of grave import just as are the others to the
Seven Churches, and to our churches today, since it is spoken by
the Son
of God.
The use of this title here is significant for the Church at Thyatira
since it stood in the representative scale of time just preceding the
emergence of the errors of Roman false doctrine which would soon
include the nature of the blessed Mary as the “Mother of God.”
Christ had no worldly mother, but was the SON of God. Mary was
blessed to be the vessel through which the human body of our Lord was
nourished and sheltered in the womb, but His divine nature did not,
by any means, come through Mary.
With
His customary graciousness, our Lord opens His commentary by
remarking on the many good qualities and marks of distinction of the
Church at Thyatira. “I
know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy
patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.”
Five qualities are enumerated: 1) Love (charity); 2) Faith; 3)
Service; 4) Patience; and 5) Increasing good works. This description
is a general commendation of the Church, but is not intended as a
full exoneration of the Church since the Church was not wholly pure.
True, there were many faithful men and women of great faith, charity,
and good works left in the Church; however, there were flies
in the ointment of
the Church at Thyatira. Her good works even exceeded those of her
first. But good works, tainted by false religion, loses its worth and
becomes spoiled. “ . . . the
plowing of the wicked, is sin.”
(Prov
21:4)
Religion based on works is never a genuine religion. We are saved
unto good works through the grace of our Lord, and that by way of
faith. “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: 9 Not
of works, lest any man should boast.”
(Eph
2:8-9)
There
are two conjunctions that I dread seeing in Scripture, These are the
word ‘BUT’ and the other is ‘NOTWITHSTANDING’. There
is a condemnation or a reversal of fortune that usually follows these
two words in Scripture. “Notwithstanding
I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman
Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce
my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto
idols.”
With great generosity our Lord has led with the positive and reserves
the negative for that which followed. Who is “that
woman, Jezebel?”
That feminine name has been associated with lewd and adulterous
behavior, as well as with idolatrous religion. The use of the name
here may be metaphorically applied to a woman of wicked inclination
in the Church, or perhaps even a woman with that actual name. I doubt
the latter due to the odor of notoriety associated with such a name.
Whoever the woman was, she was holding herself forth as a prophetess
who promoted sexual impurity and idolatrous worship. In a sense,
adultery and idolatry are of the same nature. Adultery is proving
unfaithful to one’s marital mate; idolatry is the Church turning
from her Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover she was in
violation of Paul’s admonition concerning women teaching in the
Church, and that teaching was error!
If
a secondary name for Thyatira could be applied, perhaps that name
would be “THE CHURCH OF TOLERANCE”! They tolerated sin and error.
So do the greater number of churches in our day. Sexual promiscuity,
indecency and immodesty in apparel, dishonesty, and failure to “raise
up our children in the way that they should go,”
to name only a few. God gave the Church a time to take action to
purity its role and repent, but this was not forthcoming. Only
judgment can follow such a course of deliberate tolerance of sin. “I
gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented
not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their
deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the
churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and
hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your
works.” Your
works are a reflection of your faith. But that faith is the
qualifier. The description of the Lord, “his
eyes like unto a flame of fier”
reveals His eyes (judgment) as a consuming fire separating the gold
from the chaff.
Under
every circumstance, the Lord is able to separate the sheep from the
goats. He never paints with a brush so broad as to include the
righteous and faithful of His people in condemnation. “But
unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not
this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they
speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have
already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my
works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he
shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall
they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”
The Elect of God will not abandon the faith prior to passing over
Jordan Waters. God will preserve them faithful until the end –
secure in that “faith
once delivered to the saints.”
Whomever the Lord has received of the Father, He shall keep safe in
His Fold.
The
benediction of the Lord to each of the Seven Churches holds forth
some special and beautiful promise. See what a paragon of leadership
is that of our Good Shepherd. Even with chastisement, He bestows
wonderful promises of hope: “And
I will give him the morning star.”
Would you like to receive such a royal and heavenly gift as the
Morning Star? You may if you hold fast to your first love in Christ.
He is the Bright and Morning Star (Rev
22:16)
which has lighted our dark night of travel through this life of
trial. His beams are first, at sundown, to guide our steps as the
Evening Star; and then becomes our Morning Star who remains in our
Heaven above to be with us until the first rays of the Sun grace our
horizon. He is the last Star that remains to herald the Sunrise. He
then becomes our Sun of the brilliant morning of resurrection – the
Sun of Righteousness! (Mal
4:2)
At
last comes the proverbial reminder to all of the churches (including
our own): “He
that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches.”
Do you hear?
We
shall study next the Church at Sardis.
