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Verse 18:"And to the messenger of the church in Thyatira write: These things says the Son of God, He who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like shining bronze."
Now the situation in Thyatira is completely different. Prophetically speaking, Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos are a historical representation of three aspects of the whole church. Thyatira also represents one period of the church. However, Thyatira is different from the previous three churches which supersede one another and were raised up consecutively. Thyatira came after Pergamos, yet she remains until this day. Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamos have in reality passed away and have become churches in history. However, Thyatira, which comes after Pergamos, does not pass away like the other three churches. It remains until the Lord comes back (v. 25). Although after Thyatira there is still Sardis, the church in Sardis does not replace Thyatira or supersede it. On the one hand the church in Sardis comes in. On the other hand, the church in Thyatira still remains.
We have seen how the church in Ephesus represents the church after the time of the apostles, how Smyrna represents the suffering church after this, and how Pergamos represents the corrupted church that was welcomed by the Roman emperor. Historically, Thyatira represents the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages, which continued until the time of the Reformation. Here the Lord Jesus is revealing Himself as the Son of God. He reveals His person and His discerning power, how He walks in the midst of the churches, and how He searches man's inward parts and heart. In revealing Himself in this way, we can find out the condition of the church. In Ephesus, although there was no apparent failure before men, in the Lord's eyes the first love and the first works were forsaken already. After this, the Lord detected the teaching of the Nicolaitans in Smyrna. Still after this, in Pergamos, the church began openly to be mingled with the world. The church began to live in the world and housed many heresies in it. Now in Thyatira we see how the children of Jezebel are allowed to remain in the church. This gradual apostasy of the church and steady increase in sin are all under the Lord's searching!
In all previous letters, the Lord did not mention His name, but in this letter the Lord mentions His name for the first time. What John saw was the Son of Man, yet here He declares Himself to be the Son of God. Here, as in His revelation to John in chapter one, He unfolds His own nature. It mentions here His eyes, which are like a flame of fire. As such they can search out all sins and can put fear into the sinners. His feet are like shining bronze, which are for His vengeance. Everything that His eyes condemn will be trampled by His feet. Here it says that the Lord's feet are as bronze, for bronze is the hardest and strongest of all metals. Micah 4:13 says: "Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass [bronze]: and thou shalt beat in pieces many people."
Here, unlike in Pergamos, He does not appear as "He who has the sharp two-edged sword." We know that the sword is God's word of judgment. The Lord Himself said, "He who rejects Me and does not receive My words has one who judges him; the word which I have spoken, that will judge him in the last day" (John 12:48). In chapter nineteen we see how the sharp sword that comes out of His mouth slays many. Here, however, the word is merely a prophecy of judgment alone. At the time of Pergamos, He was still reminding men of this word, warning men of the future judgment, and piercing to the dividing of soul and spirit, both of joints and marrow, so that all things are naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we are accountable (Heb. 4:12-13). Although many have rebelled against God's word in Pergamos, the same word testified against them in Pergamos. However, in Thyatira, there is no more word. What we hear now is just the teaching of Jezebel. Her disciples consider her words to be from the prophets, clearer and more sure than the teaching of the Bible. Man considers the word of the church more reliable than the words of God. This is why we do not see the Lord Jesus speaking as the One who has the sharp two-edged sword. Rather, He reveals Himself as "the Son of God." Here He is executing His authority and dealing with a church that has raised itself to an inordinate position. Now He is unveiling Himself as God. Only He has eyes as a flame of fire. Besides Him there is no one who has the real holy and clear insight. Furthermore, only He, the One with feet like shining bronze, is able to execute the overpowering judgment.
Up to this point, He must reveal His own person, because the one who calls herself the bride has contemptuously lowered His status. The church has abused the Lord's humility, grace, and incarnation by putting Him under a human mother. It reckons that since He is called God, Mary must be "the mother of God." The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church greatly depreciates the Lord Jesus and ranks Him as one of the many mediators and interceding saints. The foremost among all these saints is the "queen of heaven." The Roman Catholic Church claims that her heart is more compassionate than the heart of Jesus! Thyatira, the type of the Roman Catholic Church, says that the Lord Jesus is the son of Mary. However, the Lord Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God.
Since man has confused the authority of the church with His own authority, He is here revealing His own status as the Son of God. His eyes are like a flame of fire. Is the church the same as He is? He has feet like shining bronze. Does the church have the same? If what it binds on earth must be bound in heaven, as the Roman Catholic Church claims, can it bind up God's throne just by its command? Can God's omniscience be compared to the childish babbling of the church? Can God's holiness be compatible with the church's sins and weaknesses? Although this passage refers specifically to the Roman Catholic Church, we know that the Lord's word is also addressed to all those who champion the authority of the church. The Lord is revealing His own qualifications to those who are uplifting the church. He reveals His own qualifications in this way to show others that the church is not qualified. He alone is the Son of God. He occupies a position which His people can never attain. He has a glory which no one else can ever share. He alone is the Head of the church. The church is His Body. He deserves to have all the rights to rule over everything. Although He has a very close relationship with the church, the church nevertheless can only remain as the submitting one. It is always under Him. In the same way that the body submits to the head, the church should submit to the Son of God.
The Lord Jesus is the Son of God. As such He is sitting on the throne of His Father. This shows Him in His Godhead. No other creature on earth can share with Him in this respect. Later, in His words to Laodicea, He indicates this: "He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (3:21). In the future the overcoming saints will sit with the Lord Jesus on His throne. However, they will not be able to sit on the Father's throne. At the beginning of this book, John saw the Lord Jesus like the Son of Man. Soon, He will receive His throne in His status as the Son of Man. Both He and His redeemed ones can sit on this throne. Yet this is something for the future. Before that day comes, these ones should fight for the Lord and should labor and strive to overcome in the battlefield, as He has overcome. This teaching shatters Thyatira's dream! According to the teaching of this Scripture, how can the church exercise authority in this age? Either the Roman Catholic Church hopes to exercise authority before Christ exercises His, or it hopes to sit with Christ on the throne of God the Father and exercise authority from there. What an absurdity this is! This is why the Lord Jesus purposely reveals Himself here as the Son of God.
Matthew 18:18 says: "Whatever you bind on the earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on the earth shall have been loosed in heaven." We must realize that this word does not refer to the authority of the church in the world. This verse refers to the matter of the excommunication of the saints. We can see this fact from the context of Matthew 18. This act of excommunication is an act originating from the zeal of God's people concerning His holiness. God's goal towards His people is to have them express His holiness in a definite way. If some among them fail, the rest should bear the responsibility before God to execute God's command of excommunicating the sinful saints. If God's children act according to His commands, God will be with them. Whatever they bind, God will also bind, and whatever they loose, God will also loose. No one can bind anything apart from the word of God. No one is commissioned exclusively by the Lord to open up His word. If anyone obeys God's word, God will work with him. Authority is with the word of God; it is not with the people. If a person has no guidance from God's word, yet Christ binds and looses according to him while he continues in his disobedience to God's word, such binding and loosing is to shame Himself.
Hence, all authority of the church, unless derived from an obedience to God's word, is rebellion to Christ. No one can serve two masters. Our conscience can be responsible to God alone. All holiness and morality begin from here. If there is any deviation from God's word, no right can be right, and no wrong can be wrong. There will no longer be any distinction between right and wrong. God's purpose is for man to obey His word. It is true that we have to "listen to the church." Yet, it is only when the church is obeying God's word that the saints have a responsibility to obey it. Otherwise, to obey the church is to rebel against God. All those who are telling others to listen to the church without listening to the Bible are under the teaching of Thyatira. They should listen to what the Lord says, that He is "the Son of God" and that He alone has eyes like a flame of fire.
Even now, only the Son of God has eyes like a flame of fire. We have to be careful about how and what we hear. Other than His word, nothing should have any authority to dominate us. Because Thyatira has forgotten that the Lord is the One with the sharp two-edged sword, He reminds them that He is the One with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like shining bronze, which trample under them anything that His eyes do not approve of.
In spite of this, the faithful saints in Thyatira can receive consolation through this title. Particularly if we look into the place of the Son of God in the Bible, we will find the meaning of this title here. In John 5 we see how as the Son of God He is the source of life and the life-giver. Since the life we receive from the Lord Jesus through faith is so powerful, even when the body that contains this life dies, it will still resurrect to receive eternal life. However, those bodies that do not have this life will resurrect to judgment (5:29). Not only will we receive eternal life in the future, we even now have eternal life already (v. 24). Although we must all stand before the judgment seat, that judgment seat of Christ will not determine whether we will have eternal life or not. Rather, it is because we have life that we will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment there is not to determine if we have life or not. It is to determine our position in glory. Although some will have their works completely burned, the life they possess is common to all those standing before the judgment seat. This is the minimum requirement. If we think that one must wait until he dies before he can know if he has life, even though he has believed in the Lord Jesus already, it is a shame to the grace of the Lord. He said that when we believe in Him we have life. If we believe in Him, surely we will have life.
As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus not only gives us life but freedom as well. In John 8:36 He says, "If therefore the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed." Freedom and life are what the Lord Jesus gives to us as the Son of God. However, this does not mean that everyone who has life is free. Often we see many people who have life, yet they are still bound by many things. This is the experience of the person in Romans 7. He surely had life already. Yet in experience he was like a slave. He sighed, "I am fleshy, sold under sin...Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" (vv. 14, 24). However, he was freed in Christ. Hence, he said: "For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death" (Rom. 8:2).
As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus gives us life and freedom. He died for us and bore our sins. As a result we have life. He was crucified with us, so that we die to sin with Him. As a result we are free. Everyone who has life can be free, because this is the Lord's gift to us as the Son of God. When we believe in the only begotten Son of God, we become the sons of God. As sons of God, we are in the Father's house and are completely free.
Having seen this, we will realize the preciousness of the name of the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. He uses this name in order to show the saints in the apostate Thyatira the rich grace He has reserved for them. All those who follow the teaching of Jezebel receive but death and bondage. Those who follow the Son of God receive life and freedom. Although this title serves as a warning to the apostate church, it serves equally as a reminder of the Lord's power to His faithful children.
However, we have to know that although the Lord Jesus reveals Himself as the Son of God here, His intention was not to reveal Himself as the Son of God who gives life and freedom, but the Son of God who executes judgment. The present situation is very different from that in the ancient times. Other than judgment, there is no other way now. The church is too deep in degradation already; the only thing left for it is judgment. His eyes search all things, and His feet trample all things. Both of these speak of the judgment of the Son of God. How dignified He is in revealing Himself in this way!
As the Son of God He has the authority to rule over His own house. This is what Hebrews 3:6 reveals to us. He is ruling over His whole house in the status of the Son. Hence, although it mentions Him here as the Son of God, it also mentions His eyes being like a flame of fire, for He is the one who searches all things and discerns all things. As such He can freely execute His authority. His feet are like the shining bronze, which also signifies His authority. Bronze is a symbol of judgment. Hence, this signifies His firm attitude toward sin and His dealing with sin according to God's righteousness. If we consider the bronze altar in the Old Testament and the bronze serpent in the wilderness, we will know the meaning of bronze. It means God's requirement of man's responsibility before Him according to His righteousness. Among the Israelites, all those who wanted to be saved and draw nigh to God had to satisfy God's righteous requirement through the offerings.
Hence, the nature of Christ as mentioned here demands our utmost, solemn attention. This does not mean that He is now annulling His former relationship with the church in grace. Neither does it mean that His love has diminished at all towards His people. The emphasis here is His manifestation of Himself in dealing with the condition of a church in apostasy. The church should be His light and testimony in the world. In dealing with it, He is questioning whether it is in fact a light and a testimony for Him. Since the church has forsaken His authority, it has on the one hand lost its light and its testimony, and on the other hand become proud and arrogant and has forgotten that its position is but that of a slave. It has instead assumed itself to be the master. It is for this reason that the Lord told them that He is the Son of God and has the full authority to rule over His own house. All their conduct will be judged by Him. The Lord wants them to remember His all-searching and all-judging power and that He will not easily overlook sin. As long as the church is responsible for the testimony of the Lord on earth, such a nature of the Lord remains. No matter how much it has failed and lost its testimony, its responsibility before God does not change. This is true not only with the whole church but is also true with certain individuals. If we forget this fact, we will incur judgment from the Lord.
In considering the way the Lord addressed Thyatira, we realize that it has failed. The few churches that we have seen are all degrading. Thyatira is no exception. We can say that Thyatira is the most degraded of them all. When the church leaves its first love, becomes Judaistic, and receives honor in the world, it is unavoidable that it will lose its heavenly, holy, and separating characteristics. The world was never so victorious as it is now. With the erecting of a cross and the mere performance of baptism, the whole Roman population becomes the children of God! Nominally, surely Christianity has fully prevailed. Actually, this is only a cover-up of heathen teachings with Christian terminologies. We can imagine how great a loss the church suffers and how much shame the Lord bears when the church embraces the world's pitying love and turns its hope of the coming glory in the midst of earthly suffering into present greatness! Yet all the while they are boasting that they have now received the power and are able to Christianize the world. How pitiful this is! However, this was only the situation in Pergamos. By Thyatira, the darkness had deepened. This is the inevitable consequence when the heart has turned to the temporary enjoyment of sin. How can there not be a degradation when the emperor adorns himself with the cross, turning the cross of suffering into a cross of silver and gold, and when God's children receive special privileges from the government, having no more need to roam about in camel or goat skins or to hide in caves, but are instead admired by their adversaries for their positions? When Balaam's teaching prevails, spontaneously man will sacrifice the truth for the sake of wealth. By then, naturally Jezebel will have the opportunity to be the lord of all things and will be able to kill and persecute those who truly belong to God. Such a blood-shedding and idol-worshipping prophetess has indeed become the queen of the world in this dark age. Such a beginning surely will lead to such an ending. This age is known in history as the Dark Ages. According to the Lord's view, it was indeed dark!
Although the Lord's eyes were severe as a flame of fire, He is still the Son of Man, full of boundless mercy and lovingkindness. How wonderful it is that we can communicate with such a Lord. What joy it is that we can stand before Him. Although we are now in the midst of Thyatira and in a condition of corruption and sin, we see the Lord doing His best to enumerate the merits of His people. He loves mercy and not judgment. He tries His best to praise the least bit of goodness. Although it is such a corrupt church there, the Lord sees many things worthy of praise. Although the general condition tends to become darker all the time, the genuine believers become more zealous all the time.
Verse 19:"I know your works and love and faith and service and your endurance and that your last works are more than the first."
The Son of God is now turning His attention to the work of His church. First He mentions love, because love is the first item among all good works. The church has not lost its love. Hence, the Lord praises it. Neither has it lost the facts and the doctrines that the Lord has revealed to it. Hence, the Lord praises its faith. It is also diligent in supplying the physical and spiritual need of others. Furthermore, in the matter of endurance, it is especially commendable. In the original language there is the word "your" before the word endurance. The Lord's purpose is to particularly commend its endurance. This is why He says "your endurance," as if to draw others particularly to their endurance. Moreover, it has not diminished in its good works but has increased. This is absolutely different from the church in Ephesus.
Surely these are not the works of Jezebel and her children. Jezebel is the turning point for the nature of the work of the whole church at that time. When we read on, we will see that these works were inherited from the church at that time; they have nothing to do with Jezebel. Before He rebukes them, He first gathers all their bright works and commends them. Because the background at that time was so dark, these works shine out all the more brightly.
We know that the church in Thyatira refers to the age of the Roman Catholic Church in the Middles Ages. We must never forget this point. Otherwise, we will not be able to understand much of what is covered in this letter. Since Thyatira is the church of the Dark Ages in the Middles Ages, how can the Lord have so many praises for it? We have to remember the biblical principle that when the whole body fails, God reckons the faithful remnant as those who take the place of the whole body before God. For example, at the time of the apostasy of the nation of Judah, God reckoned the remnant of Judah the nation of Judah. The same is true in the church of God. It is according to this principle that our Lord takes the works of the faithful believers in Thyatira to be the work of the whole body in Thyatira.
It is a joy to think that there was such love, faith, and work at that time in the Dark Ages. Many writings have been handed down to us that show us how these ones loved the Lord and suffered for the Lord. Although these extant writings are few, they can fairly represent the work of the minority of saints in the church at that time. We know, of course, that there were many other believers who loved the Lord and likewise suffered for Him but who are unknown to us because they were not able to write. We also know that many writings are lost and are no longer available to us. In conclusion, in such a dark time it is amazing that these ones could have such works. The darker the hour, the more precious the faithful works done for the Lord become.
We can say that stories of the believers in the Middle Ages are most interesting. They are also very moving. Their faithfulness in loving the Lord, in standing for the truth, and their determination of opposition to a heretical church are most sincere. Although they suffered, labored, and were threatened and persecuted, although they suffered much more than those under the Roman emperors suffered, although they did not witness any miracles and wonders or have any organization or group to back them up, and although the people and the priests of the time invented many condemnations against them, they marched on fearlessly to maintain God's testimony and were willing to sacrifice all comfort, their families, lives, and everything in the world to testify for the Son of God that the power of Hades would not be able to overcome the church. Christ knew all these things. Although they were at times weak, and their concepts were wrong in many things, and although Satan used all his wiles to mix errors with their good works and was sometimes quite successful at that, their works were recorded in heaven and were commended by Christ. While the writings of many world-lovers and comfort-seekers have disappeared and turned into dust, the record of the believers' works is shining brightly in heaven. This is the way the Lord commended the saints in Thyatira. They were not among those in the church then and are not among those who are wise now. They are just the ones who are totally for Christ. We have to take note of the Lord's commendation of Thyatira. It does not mean that everyone in Thyatira had such good works. Rather, it was only those faithful ones in Thyatira that had these good works. This is what is revealed in verse 24: "But I say to you — the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching...." Clearly the Lord has separated the whole body in Thyatira from the remnant in Thyatira. If we notice the order of the Lord's word here, we will be clearer concerning this matter. The works of the whole body in Thyatira were the works of the Pope. Yet his works before God had no merit. However, the Lord Jesus is here commending one kind of work. It is then very clear that this kind of work is not the works of the Pope.
The Lord Jesus mentions love first because love is God's nature. Hence, love is the motive behind all spiritual works. After this, the Lord mentions faith, the faith which issues forth from love. Later the Lord mentions service, endurance, and good works. When believers increase in their love and good works in the midst of the fires that befall them, they receive the Lord's commendation. The whole body of Thyatira has followed the teaching of the Pope. They have reckoned work to be of merit before God for their salvation. This is totally different from the order presented here. There must first be love, then faith, and then afterwards service and good works.
Hence, when we read of the Lord's word of praise, we should distinguish the ones to whom these words were addressed from Jezebel and her children. Although we know little of how these ones walked humbly and secretly with God at the time when the Roman Catholic Church was dominating everything and the Pope had haughtily placed himself in an improper position, the most comforting thing is to see that Christ fully acknowledged their good faith and declared it before all men. Although many believers at that time were wrongly accused and were branded as heretics, and although many believers were given the meanest and most frightening judgment by the Roman Catholic Church, at the day when the Lord of judgment appears, they will receive their rightful crown. Jezebel was constantly testifying against God's Naboth, condemning him as having "blaspheme[d] God and the king" (1 Kings 21:10). Yet, for what reason was she doing this? Was it not for the reason that he would not sell his possession for a small price? All those who will not sell their possession for a small price in the world will be slandered as being blasphemous to God and the king and will be "stoned to death." Under these circumstances, can one imagine what kind of trials there were for the works, love, and faith of these nameless, or rather "ill-famed" Thyatiran believers? How is it that under such discouraging circumstances they were still so diligent? For one to be able to endure under such circumstances is true endurance indeed!
However, their highest attainment had not been achieved yet. God's work of power is unlike man's feeble struggling. Their last works were not only a match to the first; their "last works are more than the first." Under such adverse circumstances where all the powerful rulers of the world rose up to oppose them, it was difficult enough to maintain the same attitude as before. Yet what they did was more than before. This is indeed a growth. Thank and praise the Lord that He has given us eternal life and that with this life there is the divine power. As such, it is unavoidable that it grows. Although the bondages are strong, He is able to break them all. Although He is tightly shut up, He breaks out from within. The Holy Spirit is indeed powerful in our lives. Is there any hindrance in the world that can stop us from advancing for the Lord? All the sojourners who have passed the valley of Baca (the valley of tears, Psa. 84:6) will go from strength to strength, for the power of Christ is made perfect in weaknesses.
If we read the history of the day, we will see that the zeal of these enduring witnesses increased day by day. The light they received increased day by day, and their boldness also increased more and more. The Reformation that happened later was not a sudden occurrence. There were many forerunners before the Reformation already. Although one died, another was raised up. The torch of truth was transferred from one hand to another, and the more time went on, the brighter the torch became. Furthermore, the teaching of separation became more and more apparent as time went on. This is the greatest and the most crucial point, because when we read on, we find the Lord Jesus rebuking the saints for the reason that they had tolerated the teaching of Jezebel. Although sin increased and pressures mounted, the voice of testimony of those who opposed this kind of work became louder. It was this gradual increase that eventually made the success of the Reformation possible.
Although they were full of power and zealous works, among them the greatest sin was already at work. Although the Lord gladly acknowledged their abundant goodness, the most shameful thing existed among them. Although the Lord did praise them, He could not refrain from rebuking them.
Verse 20:"But I have something against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and leads My slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices."
Jezebel was a heathen queen. She induced her husband to worship idols and changed the ordinances concerning the Israelites' way of worship. She persecuted those who worshipped Jehovah and led the Israelites astray to worship Baal. Baal was the enticer outside the church. It typifies the world as the one enticing the church. Jezebel, on the other hand, was the enticer within the church. She typified the church being shamelessly joined to the world and idols. Although there was not much difference between the sin of Baal and Jezebel, their positions were entirely different. Jezebel was within the church. Hence, the sins she committed were much more severe than those of Baal outside the church. In Pergamos there were only "individuals" who sinned. Although the number of "individuals" might have been many, yet the "whole body" of the church was free. In Thyatira, only "individuals" were free from sin, and while this number of "individuals" was not small, the "whole body" of the church was defiled.
What was the special characteristic of the church in Thyatira? What made it different was that it allowed a woman who called herself a prophetess and who assumed to have inspiration from God to teach there. Jezebel reminds us of the Israelites worshipping idols and God's servant and His people being persecuted in the old days. She was an outsider, yet she reigned among God's people. This is why the Lord said, "She teaches and leads My slaves astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices."
God's servants often compare the seven parables in Matthew 13 with the seven letters in Revelation 2 and 3. The result of their study is that the seven parables and the seven letters are parallel and correspond with each other. Because of the shortage of space, we did not make the comparison between the first three letters and the first three parables. However, we know that the seven parables in Matthew 13 are prophecies concerning what will happen in the kingdom of the heavens during the time between the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus. The seven letters in Revelation also speak of the journey the church goes through from the time it was established until the second coming of the Lord. Since the parables and the letters in these two passages both speak of things of this age, we have to consider their similarities here. We have no time now to consider the other parables and how they correspond with the letters in Revelation 2 and 3. Here we will only consider the fourth parable, that of leaven in the flour, and how this parable corresponds to the fourth letter sent to those in Thyatira.
In the fourth parable the main character is a woman. In this fourth letter that we are considering the main character is also a woman. If we study carefully, we will see that these two women are the same woman. Although many people have different interpretations of this parable, if we take the way of interpreting the Scripture with the Scripture, we will readily find out the meaning of this parable. First let us study this parable, and then we will compare it with the letter we are considering. We have to remember that both passages are spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself.
"Another parable He spoke to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened" (Matt. 13:33). We know how many people have explained this parable. They consider the gospel as the leaven with a potential nature to affect everything that comes into contact with it. The world is like the lump of meal. When the gospel is preached, it will be fully victorious in the end, and the whole world will be influenced by the gospel. This kind of interpretation is of course very much welcomed. However, allow me to investigate without controversy by referencing other parts of the Scripture to find out if this is indeed what the Bible promises. Before going on, let me ask one question: what does the Lord Jesus mean when He says that the kingdom of the heavens is like leaven? If the Lord Jesus compares the kingdom of the heavens to leaven, then we must conclude that leaven is something good. If that is the case, then surely the kingdom of the heavens will gradually spread throughout the whole earth, and leaven leavens the whole lump. However, if we study carefully, we will find out that the question cannot be settled this way.
"The kingdom of the heavens is like leaven." If we read this sentence alone, we will think that this leaven typifies the kingdom of the heavens, but if we read through this chapter and compare this parable with the other parables, we will not be so bold to say that the Lord intends to use leaven to typify the kingdom of the heavens. For example, in reading the second parable, one may ask if the kingdom of the heavens refers to the sower that sows the good seed or to the whole parable with its different kinds of people and their different kinds of endings. Take another example: if we take the leaven as a symbol of the kingdom of the heavens and apply this principle to the fifth parable, then in the kingdom of the heavens there will be the treasure, instead of the person that has found the treasure. Furthermore, in the sixth parable, the kingdom of the heavens will be the man that has found the good pearl, instead of the pearl itself. Does this then sound unreasonable? Therefore, the kingdom of the heavens must refer to the whole parable and not just one point of the parable. This does not mean that everything said in the parable is positive. While it is true that in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens there is no evil, at the present time there are many counterfeits, and as such, there are many negative things. This is why when the man sleeps, the enemy can come in and sow the tares among the wheat. Furthermore, in the first three parables, each subsequent sin mentioned is greater than the preceding one. The first parable mentions the partial failure of some good seeds. The second parable mentions the enemy's sowing the bad seed. The third parable mentions how the smallest seed can grow to be the biggest tree under which evil spirits in the air can lodge themselves. If the fourth parable here speaks of the victory of the gospel, it would not follow the same line as the first three parables, but would instead be contradictory to them!
If we are willing to allow the Scripture itself to expound the meaning of this parable, we will see that every point in this parable is very meaningful. From Leviticus 2 we can find the help to explain this parable. The fine flour in the meal offering is the three measures of meal referred to here. It should not contain any leaven (v. 11). Hence, the crucial point here is that the woman has done something that God has forbidden. She ought not to have done this! In this way we see that this parable is the same in spirit as the first three parables. Sin has become more serious and more hidden here than in the first three parables. The meal offering typifies Christ as the bread of life and as food for the priests of God. To put leaven in the meal is to change the nature of Christ. What the woman is doing is a symbol of what renowned churches are now doing.
This is an important point, and we must spend more time to consider this. In the Old Testament there was a feast, the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. At this feast the Jews were to eat unleavened bread for seven days. In the first day all leaven had to be removed from their houses. From the first day to the seventh, anyone who ate of leavened bread would be removed from the Israelites. Even while our Lord was on earth, the Jews were still keeping this feast according to the letter. When the Lord Jesus mentioned this parable, the Jewish disciples could very easily understand the meaning of this leaven because the practice and work of removing leaven was so common and widespread among them already. Judging from the act of removing the leaven at the feast, the leaven must refer to something negative. The Jews who were listening to the Lord's parable knew definitely that no leaven could be used in the meal offering. Moreover, God clearly forbade that any offering offered to Him by fire contain leaven. It was not hard for the audience of that day to understand the meaning of leaven.
If we read through all the passages in the Bible that refer to leaven, we can see that in no place is leaven referred to as something positive. The passage that we are considering now is no exception. If we put this parable together with the preceding three parables, we can see that leaven here is not positive. Moreover, when we consider the Lord's own definition of leaven, we have no choice but to consider leaven as negative. Leaven refers to the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:12).
Christ is our spiritual food, dispensed to us through teachings or doctrines. The Bible often considers the Word as food. We can receive it by faith to meet our need. Christ is the truth. We enjoy Christ through the truth. The teaching of the Pharisees pays attention to outward forms and self justifications. The teaching of the Sadducees is the teaching of the modernists of today. Both teachings oppose the Christ revealed by God and understood by faith. In Mark 8:15, we see in addition to these two things the leaven of Herod. This is the teaching of fame and fortune. According to the Lord's own word, leaven means lust, the devil, and the world. These combine to corrupt the truth of Christ.
After understanding the style of this parable, we are reminded that Paul has similar words. The Lord Jesus says, "A woman took and hid in three measures of meal until the whole was leavened." Paul said: "A little leaven leavens the whole lump" (1 Cor. 5:6). After reading these two examples, we have to conclude that these two portions are parallel to and complement one another. However, in 1 Corinthians 5, unlike Matthew 13 where the meaning is hidden, the apostle pointed out the meaning of the leaven. Since these two portions are parallel passages, we can find out the meaning of leaven from 1 Corinthians. In verse eight, the apostle explained to us the meaning of leaven. It means "malice and evil." The meaning of being unleavened is "sincerity and truth." In this way, we can draw a conclusion for our study of the meaning of leaven.
Why does it say three measures of meal? In the Bible, meal refers to nothing other than Christ. If we read the Old Testament, we will see that three measures of meal is a unit of food. It seems that three measures of meal is the basic unit of food. When Abraham offered hospitality to the heavenly guests, he made unleavened bread out of three measures of meal. If we identify Christ there and in this parable, we will readily understand the meaning of this parable. In His status as the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus gives to us food which abides unto eternal life (John 6:27). Because He is man, He can be the food that we need. However, what is the number of "the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:5)? Three is the number of God; it signifies the Triune God and the sufficiency of God. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Any number smaller than three will not match the truth revealed here.
The woman here put leaven into the three measures of meal, but who is this woman? No doubt she is the church. In the Bible, a woman is always a type of the church, whether physical or spiritual, but of the two, which one does the woman here typify, the real church or the nominal church? After reading this parable, we will readily find out what church is symbolized by this woman. The previous parable is in the nature of Babylon because the small seed there grows into a big tree, just like Nebuchadnezzar did. This tree is a symbol of the church's reigning in the world. Once it has an inclination to reign, it unavoidably comes under the influence of emperors and kings. It becomes natural for them to adjust ordinances and change doctrines on the church's behalf. At such times, the leaven is put into the three measures of meal.
The teachings of Christ have fallen into the hand of this woman. She has the power to turn and upset them at will. She can add to them her traditions and ordinances so that these latter become as authoritative as the word of God. She can expound at will and can determine the interpretation of God's word. This is where the leaven lies. The teaching of the church is the leaven. Whatever teachings they are, wherever they are found, and with whatever outward appearance they come, they always quench the Holy Spirit, offend the teaching of God's Word, and set up another master other than the Lord Jesus Christ. However, they come in the name of the Lord and assume His authority. As such, the Lord's people are intimidated from opposing these false commandments.
Let us now turn back to the woman Jezebel. Her name is very meaningful. We know that the Bible always packs a lot of meaning into a little word. Many times the name of one person can tell us a lot of stories. The name Jezebel, together with the history associated with her, causes one to realize that the Lord is referring not only to the one church in Asia Minor at that day alone, but to a woman in apostasy.
She was the daughter of the king of Sidon. Through her influence, Ahab was led astray to worship and serve Baal. As such, he "did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Kings 16:33). He strongly promoted idolatry among the Israelites. At his table he dined with eight hundred fifty prophets of Baal and Asherah. He was determined to kill Elijah, God's prophet. He murdered Naboth just because the latter was not willing to give up his God-given inheritance. He was indeed the head and the chief instigator of sin among the Israelites at that day. In 1 Kings 21:25-26 it says: "But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel."
Before we go on, we have to mention another matter. In Revelation 17 another woman is mentioned. Her name is "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (17:5). The woman that we are speaking of now is only the Jezebel in Thyatira. By the time of the great tribulation, she will develop into the woman described in Revelation 17. We will cover that woman when we come to Revelation 17. Now we will only point out the fact that she is the same one as the woman in Thyatira.
Let us come back to our subject. The words concerning Jezebel here are very simple. It only mentions her as the one "who calls herself a prophetess." The result of such calling is to entice people to fornication and idolatry. When we read history, we do not find Jezebel calling herself a prophetess. She was a queen, an idolatrous queen, but the Jezebel in Thyatira is not a queen. However, if we consider the fact that the Lord promised the overcomers that they would reign over the world, we can deduce that the name Jezebel does contain the sense of a queen. We know that the Lord's promise to the overcomers in the seven letters corresponds to the condition of the churches where these overcomers were. Hence, when we see Christ promising the overcomers to reign in the future, it means that these overcomers were not willing to reign together with the church at that time. That is the reason why the Lord promised them a future reigning. Although only Jezebel's name is mentioned here, it shows that the hypocritical church of that day reigned in the world as Jezebel did. Moreover, with the coming Babylon the Great there is also the reigning. Hence, these two passages are related to one another.
The hands of Babylon are stained with the blood of the saints. Yet in Thyatira, we do not see the woman stained with blood. However, the name "Jezebel" suggests to us that she was the one who persecuted the faithful people of God. Only when we bear this fact in mind can we fully understand the meaning of this letter. At the same time, although the fourth parable in Matthew does not mention her being the queen or her persecution of others, it does clearly point out the nature of her calling herself a prophetess. Therefore, this letter to Thyatira joins the other two prophecies together, and the three passages combined, Revelation 17, Matthew 13, and this letter, give us a full knowledge concerning the work of this woman.
Of course, all these things are speaking about the Roman Catholic Church. These are the Lord's evaluation of the Roman Catholic Church. Although man may think that she is not that much wrong, we have to judge her according to the Lord's view and the Lord's valuation. God's judgment is final. In all the things that we will discover in the future, we will see that God's decision never changes. How solemn this is. From the prophecy, that is, from Revelation 17, we see that this woman will reign in the future. The Protestantism that will be in name only will still be under her power. We desire God's children to know God's view concerning her so that they will be careful. The works of Jezebel are worse than that of coveting unrighteous wages. Her sin is greater than that of Babylon. Thyatira here is allowing this woman to teach and to preach the dark, cruel, and idolatrous teachings. She even considers herself to have God's command and God's authority. For her to call herself a prophetess means that she is assuming to speak for God and that God is behind her speaking. However, such sin can never be hidden from the eyes of the Lord. She not only preaches fornication but practices it also. This sin of fornication symbolizes a union with the world. As Israel had committed fornication when it married Canaanites, in the same way, the church and the Christians have committed fornication when they have made friends with the world.
The second result of her teaching is to eat idol sacrifices. This symbolizes how she is having direct fellowship with Satan. The sacrifices offered by the Gentiles are sacrifices "to demons and not to God" (1 Cor. 10:20). These two things are most offensive to God. In Pergamos only a minority listened to the teaching of Balaam, ate idol sacrifices, or committed fornication, but here in Thyatira the whole body of the church has allowed Jezebel to teach others and to entice them to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices. This is indeed a step-by-step degradation in sin!
The teaching of Jezebel is the teaching of the church at that time. In these few letters, the Lord warns His people at length that the teaching of the nominal churches on earth today is no longer trustworthy. Although they are supposed to be the Lord's luminaries on earth, in these few letters the Lord warns His children that their teachings are not necessarily safe anymore regarding their soul, regarding the truth, and regarding sanctification. Yet how many are there today who still consider the teachings, ceremonies, and traditions of the church to be full of God's authority and bear God's blessings! Many think that since the church dares to do and to preach these things, they must surely be right! Such people should remember that the Lord has said that Ephesus is fallen, Pergamos is dwelling in Satan's place, Thyatira is following the teaching of Jezebel, Sardis is living in name and dead in reality, and Laodicea will be spewed out of the Lord's mouth. Man considers listening to the church as listening to God, yet this is the basis of the Lord's rebuke! Man thinks that it is obedience to God when he follows the teaching of Jezebel, but actually, Jezebel was not God's prophetess; she only called herself such. The saints should know that in the present church, as revealed to us from the Lord's letters, there are many who have rebelled and forsaken the Lord and who have added to and deleted from the Lord's word at will. Therefore, we must be careful whose teaching we are following now.
There are three sins of Jezebel. First, she calls herself a prophetess. God's order is that a woman should not teach a man. Even if what is taught is the truth, it is still forbidden (1 Tim. 2:12). Since God considers her a woman, this shows that she does not have the right to teach the truth. Second, although the Jezebel mentioned here is not a physical woman, spiritually speaking, God considers her a woman, which means that she should never teach God's servants. Third, she teaches heresy. Hence, God's people should beware and should not think that they are safe. Even the most steady ones are liable to fall! When one follows man's tradition, it is unavoidable that he be tempted. This woman is not only teaching fornication in doctrine only but is actually tempting others to practice it. With the teachings, there naturally come the works. Many traditional teachings continue until today because there are those who promote them and practice them!
The word "woman" in many manuscripts is "your wife." If the latter is indeed a better rendering, then we can see further meaning to the word. The words "your wife" mean that this woman is subject to you and is under your authority. Ahab represented the Israelites; he bore the moral responsibility of the Israelites. The messenger of Thyatira is the representative of the church in Thyatira, who also bears the moral responsibility of the church there. The first sin of Ahab was to marry Jezebel and to participate in the worship of Baal. The second sin was to allow her as a Gentile and an idolator to rule over the religious affairs of his country and to call herself a prophetess in a land of God's jurisdiction. This was what was practiced during the period in church history after Pergamos at the height of the Roman Catholic Church. At that time, the church was joined to the world. The Roman Catholic Church claimed to have the authority of God and introduced many idolatrous practices into the church. Actually, historically the Roman Catholic Church was closer to Jezebel than Thyatira of the day. Like Jezebel, the Roman Catholic Church not only introduced to God's people the heathen sins, but also shed the blood of many who refused this introduction. In the Bible there is a great principle that when a woman is introduced as a type, this refers to a condition. If the Bible introduces a man as a type, it refers to the act done under a certain condition. Hence, whether it is rendered a "woman" or "your wife," the significance is the same. Whatever it may be, God holds the messenger responsible for the teaching of Jezebel. Ahab was responsible before God for his country, yet he allowed Jezebel to exercise authority and to teach. As a result, there was apostasy unprecedented in the history of Israel. The name Jezebel suggests that she was the wife of the messenger in the church in Thyatira. This means that she represents the condition of the church at that time. Those who bear the responsibility of the church for Christ should bear the responsibility of such a condition there. The Lord is not only rebuking the existence of such worldly and corrupt teaching in the church, but the assuming of authority of such teaching and the spreading of such in the name of the Lord as the faith of the church!
Verses 21-23:"And I gave her time that she might repent, and she is not willing to repent of her fornication. Behold, I cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her, into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works; and her children I will kill with death; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the inward parts and the hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your works."
This is the way the persecutors of God's people receive their rightful judgment from the hands of God. When such judgment comes, the heavens will assent and rejoice, saying, "After these things I heard as it were a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah! The salvation and the glory and the power are of our God. For true and righteous are His judgments; for He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He avenged the blood of His slaves at her hand. And a second time they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke goes up forever and ever" (Rev. 19:1-3). Those who do not have the true mercy would say that God's judgment here is too severe. In addition, He is exhorting God's children at present to "come out of her, My people, that you do not participate in her sins and that you do not receive her plagues" (18:4).
We know how the works of the Roman Catholic Church are judged. Yet often we do the same works that the Roman Catholic Church is doing! We have to remember that the Bible considers the Roman Catholic Church "THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Rev. 17:5). Although we may reject the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church as a whole, we may adopt the principle of Roman Catholicism! We have to realize that within the shell of Protestantism there are many popish things. Some among them are now even trying to bring about a recovery back to Rome. Many denominations and proposals, though free of the pope, are filled with popish ideas. They consider their teachings as being infallible! Such haughtiness is indeed an echo of the voice of the woman who called herself the prophetess, though the name may not necessarily be called Jezebel!
Although many present organizations and individuals have not considered their teachings infallible like the Catholic Church does, and although they have not considered the church to be something that should assume high authority in the world, we can still detect the shadow of Roman Catholicism among them. Any group of Christians who considers that its teachings are the teaching of the church and are therefore authoritative, though such a group may not consider itself the unique catholic church on earth or the descendant of Rome, it is already sounding the voice of the woman! Although the name of that woman may not be Jezebel, and although many organizations have no conscious intention to add to God's Word, but are instead willing to accept the leading of God's Word, they consider what their group has or had decided and is now handed to them to be things that saints ought also to keep and honor. Such organizations may not have the name of Rome, yet in reality they are Romish. Concerning this point, almost all of Protestantism is standing on the same ground! Many even consider that without these human creeds and regulations the stability of their faith would become questionable. Of course, we know that there are many modernists who are doing their best to remove all human creeds. Those who do not believe in the Bible have such demands. So do those who do not believe in eternal judgment. Those who believe in Christianity without believing in Christ also have such demands. It is because some have opposed the creeds and the human traditions that the zealous apologists consider these creeds and traditions to be indispensable. We have no time to discuss these matters here, but we can say one thing: according to the Bible, the church should not have any teaching. Other than God's inspired Word, no person or group can have any authoritative teaching. The real teaching is the Holy Spirit teaching from the Bible. Other than the truth, the Bible has nothing else. The false claim of Jezebel is that she has the authority to teach. If you believe in the principle of Jezebel, you cannot stop anyone from following the teaching of Jezebel. If a leader or a group has the authority apart from the Bible to teach, who can then guarantee that he can be inerrant? If he can err, then surely those who follow him can err as well. If the blind leads the blind, will not both fall into the pit?
However, some say that the present creeds can be proved to be the very teaching of the Bible by many scriptural proofs. Very well. If the Bible teaches what the creeds teach, and if the Bible is as authoritative as the creeds are, why then do we need the creeds in addition to the Bible? Some have conceded that the teachings of the Bible are specific and complete. If the teaching of the Bible is, indeed, so specific, why then is there the need to make it more specific with the creeds? If the Bible is indeed so authoritative, why then is there the need to prove its authority with the creeds? Can the authority of the creeds prove the authority of the Bible? To do this is to put the Bible to shame. It is not to honor the Bible! The Bible testifies of itself: "All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). For man to consider the creeds as authoritative is for him to annul the authority of the Bible! It causes man to take the creeds as the standard instead of taking the Bible as the standard! If unfortunately there are faults in the creeds, man must uphold these faults in the same way that he upholds all the truths, and if there are shortages in the creeds, the Bible will have no opportunity to make up these shortages. Simply put, this way annuls the high place given to the Bible and bars man's conscience from being directly responsible to God. Hence, all God-fearing men should now rise up to oppose all ordinances used by man to replace God's word. Jezebel may seem very wise. She thinks that she herself can teach others. As a result, she becomes dominating over others as well. Her problem lies in the fact that she is not willing to have her counterfeit teachings to be judged by the Word of God itself and to test if her teachings are indeed true or false. She knows that God's inspiration is authoritative. That is why she counterfeits God's inspiration. However, she forgets whether the way she thinks she is inspired is itself something that is warranted by the inspiration of God. She can entertain no questioning of her authority; one must accept it fully. The same is demanded by the Bible; it requires absolute acceptance. It is for this reason that during the past ages there have been numerous tests. The more man tested it, the more obviously the authority of the Bible manifested itself. All true things can withstand tests. Tests will only expose the false things! It is foolishness and superstition to believe in anything Romish. On the contrary, it is wise and very reasonable to believe in the Bible.
According to the Bible, the church cannot teach. Although the prophets can prophesy, all the others must "discern" (1 Cor. 14:29). Everyone must discern according to God's word. Every conscience must be responsible to God directly. Everyone should be concerned about what is said. Not only should we pay attention to how we hear, we should pay attention to what we hear. This attitude will turn many to trust in God. Many times we are inclined to listen to man's philosophy and traditional teachings, but God's intention is to break us away from these things so that we may come afresh before His word and hear the teaching of the Bible. In this way, what we believe in will not be of man's wisdom but will be of the power of God.
The teaching of the authority of the church is, of course, most acutely found in the Roman Catholic Church. However, this seed is now sown everywhere and is found almost everywhere. Other than this teaching, there is another Romish practice which is also found almost everywhere. Certainly, the Roman Catholic Church represents the pinnacle of it, but its rudiments are scattered everywhere. This is the practice of the church's occupying a high position in the world. The Roman Catholic Church is, of course, the greatest example of this. Jezebel is a queen. She is not a widow, and she never sees any sorrow. She reigns, and under her feet are the neck of the kings. She takes the Lord's word on future kingship to be her lot in this age: "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet" (Psa. 91:13). Although many Christians do not believe that they should rule the world like the Catholic Church does, they are nevertheless affected by its poison and consider it right for Christians to play a part in the world arena. To play a part means to take up an office there. Who can be more qualified than Christians to be the kind of persons the world desires? They never consider that before the Lord Jesus came, Satan was already the prince of this age and that everything that this age does is opposed to God and His Son Christ. Only when the Lord Jesus comes again in His power will Satan be driven out and will the world come under His subjection. Actually, if the saints receive power in the world, they will be changed by the world. They will not be able to cleanse the world. Moreover, God's command is that believers must not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. To obtain political status in this way will naturally make those who serve alongside the world lose their position as the children of God.
We know that the fornication and idolatry taught by Jezebel are the same as the fornications and abominations seen in the great harlot in chapter seventeen. There we see that the kings of the earth commit the sin of fornication with her. Through her corrupt teachings, she has received power and authority in the world, while her Lord has only received a cross and a grave in the same world. It is an unimaginably evil thing that the church wants to gain authority in a Christ-rejecting world, but then, is this not common now? Many who oppose the Roman Catholic Church are taking part in many worldly things. They think that they are much superior to the Roman Catholic Church. Actually they are the same as the latter.
In Jezebel, we see that she considers the church to have authority not only in doctrines but in politics as well. This greatly changes the original nature of the church. The church is now no longer a genuine church but has become hypocritical and is only the continuation of what was once genuine. The principle of the world has leavened the whole lump, and she has lost all her testimony.
"And I gave her time that she might repent, and she is not willing to repent of her fornication." The Lord's call now is not for repentance, nor for them to do the first works, nor to recover their first love. These are no longer suitable for the church in Thyatira. The opportunity for repentance was already given before, but it was rejected. There is now no more opportunity for repentance. What is now left is judgment. This judgment is most dreadful, because during the long delay much of her deserved wrath has accumulated. "Behold, I will cast her into a bed." The Lord has grace and patience, yet those who have forever rejected this grace and patience will receive His judgment. The failure of Thyatira is final and severe. The church has gradually failed. By the time it reaches Thyatira, it has reached the ultimate point.
Here we should pay attention to three kinds of people. First is Jezebel. Second are those who commit adultery with her. Third are her children. God's judgment towards these three kinds of people is different. The Lord knows what kind of sins they have committed, and He knows how to differentiate the degree of closeness of different groups in relationship to her. No one who sins can be free. Judgment is sure. The only difference is in the verdict. The Lord will reward and punish man according to his works.
Jezebel rejected God's grace and was not willing to repent. Hence, her judgment is sure. Today is the day of God's grace, and He is slow to wrath. He is not oblivious to man's sin. Although a sinner can misunderstand His grace and can treasure up His wrath, God is always willing to bestow grace and to see man repent. However, God's patience did not produce any result in Jezebel. She rejected God's continuing kindness. As a result, there was no other way left for her except judgment. "I will cast her into a bed." A bed of sin is now turned into a bed of pain. In her suffering she will come to realize the displeasure of the Most High. She has committed a mortal sin, and there is no hope left for her.
Those who committed fornication with her still have a little chance and a little opportunity for repentance, but if they lose that opportunity and will not repent, they will suffer "great tribulation." This tribulation is surely not for this life only. Romans 2 says: "Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man who commits evil...In the day when God judges the secrets of men according to my gospel through Jesus Christ" (vv. 9, 16). Hence, there is tribulation waiting in the future. It is difficult to point out if these people have committed moral fornication or physical fornication. However, we know that whether it be moral fornication or physical fornication, judgment is inevitable. According to our view, these fornicators are probably saved ones. They were men in the apostolic churches. Yet they will be punished. Therefore, a Christian must be careful. Although he is saved, this does not mean that God will gloss over his unrepented sins. Every sin that has not passed through the blood of the Lord Jesus will be judged.
We can find out the activities of Jezebel from the fact that she has "children." Who are these children? They are the ones produced and begotten by her teaching, the ones who have consecrated themselves to propagate her teaching. It is a pity that there are numerous such people nowadays! We can find them not only in the Roman Catholic Church but even in the Protestant churches which are fully opposed to the Roman Catholic Church. What use is there for one to bear the name of Protestantism when he is still Romish at heart?
The Lord speaks of another punishment for the children of Jezebel. The word "kill" in the original language is the same used in Exodus 5:3 and 9:15 and Leviticus 26:25 where it is translated as "pestilence." Those who committed fornication with the Moabite women also died of pestilence (Num. 25:8-9). Hence, literally speaking, the ones mentioned here will die of pestilence. Spiritually speaking, they will suffer similar punishments from the Lord.
What is the purpose of the Lord in doing this? The purpose is that "all the churches will know that I am He who searches the inward parts and the hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your works." The Lord admitted that there were other churches beside these seven churches. The Lord put judgment on one church for the purpose of helping all the other churches. When the Lord judged Ananias and Sapphira, the Scripture recorded, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all those who heard these things" (Acts 5:11). God executes His judgment in order to warn those who are not yet judged, with the hope that they would fear and would stop sinning.
The Lord said that He did this to show all the churches "that I am He who searches the inward parts and the hearts." Based on this, we can say that the sin committed by Jezebel and her accomplices must have been very hidden and unknown to ordinary men. However, the Lord is the One who searches the inward parts and the hearts. There is no hidden sin that will not manifest itself before Him. When the Lord comes to judge, He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of the hearts. Even sins as hidden as fornication will be exposed by the Lord.
There is another purpose to the Lord's judgment. It is to let all the churches know that "I will give to each one of you according to your works." The word "you" here means that the Lord is dealing with the church. The principle the Lord applied here is the same both for believers and unbelievers. Psalm 62:12, Matthew 16:27, and Romans 2:6 all show this principle. We have to know that no one in the world can receive eternal life through his own works, and no Christian who has eternal life can perish through evil works. The Lord Jesus' righteousness and God's love has delivered every saved person from perdition. However, this does not mean that saints will henceforth not be punished, nor does it mean that believers will no longer stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Although it is an established and unchangeable fact that we will never perish, the Bible also tells us that those Christians who have received eternal life "must all be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done through the body according to what he has practiced, whether good or bad" (2 Cor. 5:10). "So then each one of us will give an account concerning himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). Many workers who have labored for the Lord will be rewarded then. Those whose works will be burned will still be saved, yet they will suffer loss. However, those who have sinned and have not repented of or confessed their sins, though they will not perish, will reap in the millennium what they have sown (Gal. 5:19-21; 6:7-8; Rev. 20:4-6).
Verses 24-25: "But I say to you — the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they say — I put no other burden upon you; nevertheless what you have hold fast until I come."
Our hearts are truly comforted at hearing the Lord's word to the faithful ones in such dark situations. The Lord is the Lord who searches all things. He knows the condition of the whole church in Thyatira. He also knows the condition of a small number of faithful ones in the church in Thyatira. Although the whole body has sinned, a few remain clean. We have to know that before the Lord, the whole church is not considered the church. The Lord only considers the remnant His church. What are the characteristics of this remnant? They rejected the fashionable teachings of the day. They did not tolerate the worldliness and corruption allowed by these teachings. Naturally, in opposing these teachings that the church at that time recognized, they were considered mad (Isa. 59:15). The sinning ones considered that those were the ones who knew "the deep things of Satan," which means that they were the ones who were deceived by Satan and who had fallen into Satan's snares. Why were these slandered here? It is because they would not go along with the others but would have a clear separation from sin in the world and in the church. They were willing to follow the way of holiness and truth. It is for this reason that Jezebel and her accomplices with her children considered this minority to be those who had private fellowship with Satan! They considered these to be deceived by Satan to frustrate "the spirit of oneness in the church!" How history has repeated itself! Every time God's children follow God's word to leave the nominal churches and to cleanse themselves from being vessels of dishonor, they are met with misunderstanding and slander and are considered deceived. However, all those children of God who are like "the rest in Thyatira" should be at peace and should rejoice, for they have the Lord's declaration with them: "who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they say." Everyone who would honor Christ should be satisfied with the Lord's acknowledgment.
In mentioning the remnant, it shows that the Lord has here forsaken the whole group. This is a solemn matter. It seems to say that the Lord has removed the lampstand there already, yet the Lord acknowledged that they are precious in His eyes.
Here we must take note that the church in Thyatira is but a rudimentary form of the Roman Catholic Church. It has not yet been fully developed to the utterly corrupt and loathsome position in Revelation 17. Therefore, here the Lord did not call His faithful children to leave the church. Although Thyatira is a type of the Roman Catholic Church, at the same time it is also an actual church in the province of Asia Minor. Hence, in speaking to the faithful believers in the actual church of Thyatira, the Lord did not exhort them to leave their church. However, the Roman Catholic Church typified by Thyatira is different; in Revelation 18:4 men are exhorted to depart from her. One cannot confuse an actual church with the church that it typifies. The Lord only requires the remnant in Thyatira to hold fast to what they have. He did not ask them to depart from her. However, those in the Roman Catholic Church, which Thyatira typifies, He told to depart.
What is the reason for this? Although the actual church in Thyatira at that time was corrupt, it was still a meeting in the Lord's name. It was the Lord's only lampstand in Thyatira. To depart from this corrupted church was to depart from the church. Although as a whole they had tolerated Jezebel's teaching, and although there were heresies among them, this church was the only church in Thyatira. It had not yet changed its name to a church named after a man. It is only when a church has changed its name and the Lord has lost His ground in it, as it was in the Roman Catholic Church, that the Lord calls His faithful ones to come out of her. What we were speaking about previously was the Roman Catholic Church typified by Thyatira, but we must never forget that on the one hand, Thyatira represents the Roman Catholic Church, and on the other hand, Thyatira itself was an actual church. In biblical exposition we have to differentiate between the part that applies to the type and the part that applies to the actual thing itself.
We must make the distinction here: it is those sects in which the Lord has lost all ground and the denominations which work under the principle of the Roman Catholic Church that we have to depart from. If there is a place in which a church is purely meeting in the Lord's name, if that church (not denomination) is the only church in that locality, if that church is the church of God in that locality, and if that church has not acted contrary to the scriptural teaching of God but has acknowledged the freedom for the Holy Spirit to work among it, we cannot depart from it just because it is corrupt. It is forbidden that one should leave a church for reason of corruption. God wants us to leave the sects, not the church. Although a church that is not a sect may be corrupt, God does not want us to depart from it. Of course, we have to cleanse ourselves and should have nothing to do with the corruption. On the contrary, we should cast out from among us those who teach the corrupt teachings, or we should stop their teaching.
We know that teaching and work are closely related. It is when man believes in wrong teachings that the result is wrong works. We have to be responsible for the teachings we hold because the teachings we hold govern our lives. The Lord praised the rest in Thyatira based on the fact that they had not followed these teachings.
"Who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they say." We have said that this is a slander on the believers, but there can be another meaning to this expression. It may mean that those who follow the teaching of Jezebel base their work on a kind of deep teaching, and that God's remnant is opposed to them because the remnant is too shallow and does not understand the deep teaching. However, the Lord considers their deep teachings to be the deep things of Satan.
Here the Lord acknowledged that these Christians are standing on a proper ground. Although the outward church has failed, the Lord fully approves those who are faithful to Him. Hence, He said, "I put no other burden upon you." What they have is indeed good and desirable, and He will not demand that they learn or do anything more. They only need to hold fast what they have. The Lord said, "What you have hold fast." Until when must they hold fast? It is not until Jezebel repents, for that will be too late. Nor is it until they die, for what they are waiting for is not death. They are those who have a living hope. "Hold fast until I come."
Now the Lord is not caring for the past but for the future. Beginning from the church in Thyatira, the Lord mentions His return. We have to see that in Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia, the Lord explicitly mentions His return. However, in the last church, Laodicea, the Lord mentions its total rejection. This shows us that these four churches will all remain until the Lord Jesus comes back again. Although Sardis comes after Thyatira, it does not mean that when Sardis comes, Thyatira is no more. Instead, both will exist until the Lord returns. After Sardis, there is Philadelphia, and after Philadelphia there is Laodicea. The principle there is the same.
Now the Lord is upholding His return as a hope for His faithful people. The Lord often draws His people's attention to this matter. When man rejects Him, and when the church turns its heart to love the world, He mentions His return to those faithful to Him so that they would wait patiently for Him.
Our future is with hope, but what should we do now? Now we should hold fast to what we have. Although this is not a big thing, it is in no way insignificant for one to stand firm and unmoved and to hold fast to the truth acquired when everything around is in a corrupt condition and men oppose the faithful lovers of the Lord and exercise their full power to persecute, oppose, and entice those who would follow the truth. Many have drifted and have lost what they once had. Many were once zealous for the Lord's truth, His place, and His glory, but the delay of the Lord has caused them to lose their testimony. The most crucial thing now is to hold to what we have until the Lord returns. Under what circumstances are we to hold fast? We are to hold fast not only in the midst of persecutions from the world, but in the midst of confusions in the church. Thank the Lord. This holding fast will not be for long because that day is coming soon.
Verses 26-28:"And he who overcomes and he who keeps My works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father; and to him I will give the morning star."
These overcomers in the church should bear three characteristics. First, they should hold fast to what they have and should walk a pathway that is separated from the world in the midst of various persecutions, oppositions, and corruptions. Second, they should keep the Lord's words until the end. Jezebel has her words, and those who follow her words cannot keep the Lord's words. In order to keep the Lord's words, one has to repudiate the teaching of Jezebel. If these overcomers truly want to overcome, they should depart from all the teachings of Jezebel and all the traditions associated with these teachings, and should keep the Lord's words alone. When the teachings of Jezebel are found in the church, it is easy for one to follow the church instead of following the Lord. This is why the Lord here is calling His children to follow His own words directly. Third, one has to keep His works until the end. What works are these? These are the works mentioned in verse 19, that is, the love, faith, service, endurance, and good works. These are the works that please the Lord. These are also the works that the Lord Himself did while He was on earth. They had these works at the beginning, and their latter works are more than their former works. They should hold fast to these works and should not lose these works of the Lord just because circumstances have become darker.
The phrase "My works" is a special expression. It is what Paul meant when he said: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). A Christian should be a "duplicate" of Christ in this age. We have been made alive together with Christ. As such we should express Christ in our walk. While He was on earth, He was completely blameless and absolutely faithful, serving God in everything amidst sufferings and trials. For this reason, Christians should express the life of Christ in conduct and in word amidst the present sinful, corrupt, and unfaithful church. Those who take part in the works of Jezebel will be punished, and those who hold fast to the works of Christ will be rewarded.
If believers are willing to walk on the Lord's ordained way, to follow the Lord's footsteps single-heartedly, to keep the Lord's words, to do the Lord's works, to daily be encouraged by the Lord's second coming, and to hold fast to what they have, they will receive what the Lord promises here. These promises bear two characteristics: first, to reign with Christ, and second, to have the morning star.
In these seven letters, the Lord's word to the overcomers divides every one of these imperfect churches into two classes of Christians. When believers accept the Lord's substitutional death and His perfect work accomplished on the cross, they are accepted in the Beloved and are the same. Here, every Christian is joined one to another, and there is no distinction among them. Here the basis of acceptance is the work of Christ; there is no regard for the sinner's own work. Since everyone is accepted based on the work of Christ, spontaneously everyone is the same before God. However, we have often said that salvation is one thing, and the receiving of God's reward is another. When the Lord Jesus comes again, He will recompense the believers according to their work. Some will be rewarded, while others will suffer loss, be chastised, or be punished. Since the future reward and punishment is according to the believers' work, there is a distinction among all the saved believers in the church. In these seven letters, we find the differences, dissimilarities, and distinctions among the saved believers. The overcomers will receive the reward. The ones who fail, of course, will not receive the reward the Lord promised to the overcomers.
"To him I will give authority over the nations." Here the Lord is comparing the attitude of the faithful believers with the works of Jezebel. It is of course wonderful to have authority over the nations, but this will happen only when the Lord comes back and not before. The saints will reign together with Christ. For Christians to reign alone is a sign of rebellion against Christ. It is true that Christ is now already reigning, but He is now reigning on the Father's throne, which cannot be shared by His people. For this reason, Christians cannot exercise authority or reign now. In the Lord's eyes, Satan is the prince of this age. All those who reign in this age are under his hand. Therefore, Christians should not reign in the territory of the enemy of Christ. When we consider the place Christ occupies in the world today, we will realize that Christians are not to reign now. It is when He ascends to His own throne as the Son of Man in the millennial kingdom that we will share with Him. This is His promise to the overcomers in Laodicea: "He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne" (3:21).
What kind of reward is this? If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him. At present, Jezebel and her disciples reign and are exalted in the world according to their desires. Those Christians who want to be separated from their sins must give up their position and right in the world. They will be rejected together with Christ here, but they will receive their promise, which is to be glorified with Christ in the future. They can give up all that Jezebel is acquiring because what they will gain in the future will be far beyond what they are losing today. The church's position should be one that serves Christ faithfully and that testifies to the light expressed by God in His Son's grace. Such a testimony can only be given by a heavenly sojourner who takes temporary lodging on earth, who seeks no power from worldly organizations but instead rescues men away from the world. How can a witness of suffering who testifies for the rejected Christ receive high places in a Christ-rejecting world? The world is still in rebellion against God. How can a Christian be a reigning one in such a world? The believers' hope at present should not be the reformation of the world nor the revival of the church. The Lord's promise to us is not found in the present age. It is found in the second coming of the Lord Jesus and the advent of His kingdom.
This is a new age. Paul warned the saints before that it is untimely exaltation for one to reign at the present time (1 Cor. 4:8-14). At present, we should humble ourselves under the hand of the rulers (Rom. 13:1) and should wait until the Lord gives us the authority to reign (Rom. 14:17). What we are waiting for is the coming of the new age.
The authority over the nations as mentioned here by the Lord is, of course, the same as that mentioned in Revelation 20:4. First Corinthians 6:2-3 also speaks of this time. What the Lord is telling us here is that not only will the martyrs reign, those who hold fast to the works of Christ will also have a share in the kingdom and will reign. After reading the Lord's word here, it will become very apparent to us that not every Christian will reign in this way. Those who will have authority over the nations are not all the saved Christians in Thyatira, nor are they the Christians who hold fast initially to the works of Christ, nor are they the Christians who have received initial commendations from Christ. Rather, it is the overcoming ones who hold fast until the end and who keep the Lord's works until He comes who will receive the authority. The saints should know now that they will not all enter the kingdom. Even if they are to enter, they will not all receive the same position. We should not be satisfied with eternal life alone. We should strive forward and should pursue after the coming glory. Is it not good that we can shine and be as the sun in the millennial kingdom?
"And he will shepherd them with an iron rod, as vessels of pottery are broken in pieces, as I also have received from My Father." On that day, the Lord will reign over the nations with an iron rod in His hand. This is the Lord Jesus' place anyway, but here we see His people sharing His place. Here the Lord is clearly quoting the words of Psalm 2. If we compare this psalm with Psalm 110, we can see that at Christ's request, God will give to Him the nations as His inheritance and the end of the earth shall be His portion. Hence, He will break up the nations with an iron rod and will crush them as vessels of pottery. Although man's fortresses are strong now, and although those who oppose God and His Son Christ are adamant in their attitude, on that day they will all be broken to pieces by Christ, and like vessels of pottery they will not be able to withstand the iron rod. This will happen in the future and will be Christ's position then. However, He promises His overcomers to share the same such position as He will have.
We should pay attention to one thing here: the world is not being reformed gradually by the Lord's gospel and is not improving day by day. If it were, why will the Lord have to rule it with a rod of iron? Some people only read Psalm 2:7-8 and consider that the gospel of Christ will eventually win the victory, but we must remember that while victory is sure, it will not come about by the gospel but by authority. The iron rod mentioned in Psalm 2:9, as shown by the Lord in Revelation, refers to His authority. In chapter nineteen, when we see Christ coming from the air, "out of His mouth proceeds a sharp sword, that with it He might smite the nations; and He will shepherd them with an iron rod; and He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty" (v. 15). This is not the gospel! This is the might of Christ! The nations will become the Lord's inheritance, and the end of the earth will become the Lord's field, not through the influence of the gospel but through the establishing and the execution of His kingdom with His authority and power at His coming on this earth. The gospel does have its work to do, but God's goal in the gospel is merely to call out and to save a group of people in the world. The Bible does not have the teaching of the whole world being reformed by the gospel and being turned into the kingdom of the heavens.
Actually one wooden rod is already enough to rule over a flock, but the nations are not tame like sheep. This is why the Great Shepherd with His companions must have the iron rod before they can rule. If we read 19:15-21 again, we will see the attitude the nations will take when Christ comes again. They will gather their armies and will battle with the Son of God. Hence, without the ruling of the iron rod, they will not submit. Even in the millennium, other than the whole nation of Israel which will become righteous, not all the Gentile children who enter the millennium will necessarily be submitting to Christ. When they enter into the millennium, although they will all be called the righteous and will be the kingdom of the sheep, still the children of the regenerated ones are not necessarily regenerated themselves. This is why in Zechariah 14 God warns those who will not go up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Tabernacle of their impending judgment. These passages show us that the heart of men even in the millennium will not necessarily be holy. Furthermore, when we consider how at the end of the millennium Satan is released to deceive Gog and Magog to rebel against God, we realize that man's nature, except through regeneration, will never be changed. Hence, in the millennium the Lord and His servants have to shepherd the nations with a rod of iron.
We know that a man of flesh has his strength and stubbornness. The Lord compares this nature to the vessels of pottery. Although it is strong, it cannot withstand the iron rod of God's power. When the iron rod strikes, these ones will be broken into pieces. If they were of mud, they could still be remolded. However, they are vessels of pottery; once they are broken, they could never again be made whole. This kind of breaking is the kindest work of the Lord. If this is not done, the public peace and order of the world will be affected. Our endurance will not have to last until eternity, and Christ's righteousness will not forever be cast aside. When the day comes, He will execute His righteous discipline. At that time, when His attitude changes, we will change with Him. This half of the promise speaks of things related to the Lord's kingdom.
However, before the Lord's kingdom comes, the saints must first be raptured by Him. Hence, the Lord says, "And to him I will give the morning star." The meaning of the morning star is explained to us at the end of this book. When the prophecies contained in this book are about to be fully expounded, He turns back to explain to us the meaning of the morning star. "I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star" (22:16). This is the way the book of Revelation, or the New Testament, concludes — with a declaration. If we read the declaration in the book of Malachi, the end of the Old Testament, we will be amazed how the Old Testament as well as the New join as one to testify for Christ. The declaration in Revelation is concerning the Lord Jesus. The declaration in Malachi is also concerning the Lord Jesus. The book of Revelation says that He is the bright morning star. Malachi says that He is the Sun of righteousness (4:2). It seems as if the Old Testament speaks more perfectly than the New Testament speaks. The morning star comes first, then the sun comes. It seems to be more complete to receive the sun than to receive the morning star, for to have the day is better than to have the promise of the day. However, the significance here is not the day or the promise of the day but a question of sequence in time. The Lord Jesus is the root of David. This means that he will be the King of the kingdom. This is the Sun typified in the Old Testament. In the millennium, the Lord Jesus will reveal Himself as the Sun, but for His people, He will first be the bright morning star in the dark world. Since this promise is so precious, when the true church hears this promise, it cannot refrain from its love, zeal, and desire in His return and from crying with the Holy Spirit, "Come!" (22:16-17).
As the Sun of righteousness, the Lord Jesus will manifest Himself in the world with extraordinary power. However, at the same time, He is the morning star, unveiling His heavenly beauty in the heart of His people to be their hope. The appearance of the morning star is the proof of the imminent approaching of the day. Those who look up to Him in darkness will see Him and will be comforted by Him. The morning star is not the appearance of Christ. It is not the revelation of His glory before all men. That will be the work of the Sun. When He said that He is the morning star, it means that He is not seen by the sleeping church and the slumbering world, for they are all glorifying themselves in the world and have forgotten about the cross of Christ and that now is the time of night. An overcomer is one who is watchful in the night. He cannot sleep and slumber with the sinful world and the corrupted church. He looks to the Lord in the dark. As such, the Lord gives to him a song in the night and a glimpse of the morning star. What he cares for are the future events, because the morning star is already risen in his heart.
Even if the church throughout the ages had been faithful, the world still would be in a dark night. However, now, on top of this, the church has become corrupted. When the sun goes up, it is time for men to go forth to work in diligence, but the morning star is shining for those who will not sleep with others. Some will see the light only when the sun goes up, but how good it is that we can see the light of the morning star even before the sun comes up! What this means is that we will enjoy Christ in the dark. Christ did not say to us, "I am the morning star." Rather, He says, "And to him I will give the morning star." This means at least two things: (1) Christ reveals Himself especially to those who are looking for Him and becomes available to them for their present enjoyment, and (2) before He comes again with His saints and manifests Himself in the world as the Sun, He will first rapture the overcomers unto Himself. Thyatira is at the darkest hour of the church. However, it is at this darkest hour that the morning star is revealed. Hence, all those who desire the morning star should know that when circumstances are dark, the time for the appearance of the morning star is near.
However, there is another significance to the morning star. Although the morning star shines from the heavens, it does not brighten the earth. It is only shining and bright within its own sphere. In the future Christ will bring day to the world, but to us, He is the morning star because we are heavenly people. He shines in the heavens, and only those who live in the heavens can see His brightness. Although we will reign with Him over the whole earth, our home is not the earth but our Father's house. That is our eternal habitation. This morning star is our habitation. Since our life at present and our thoughts are all above, we can enjoy the full brightness of the morning star. The farther we are from the earth and the closer we are to the realm of the morning star, the more we will receive the brightness of the morning star.
However, this morning star is not only our habitation in which we can enjoy God's provision. Our greatest enjoyment is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. "I Jesus...the bright morning star." We will enjoy Him. What a wonderful thought this is!
The morning star speaks of the fact that the Lord Jesus will appear to us in darkness and will receive us unto where He is. The morning star speaks of our eternal home. It also speaks of the fact that we will forever abide with the Lord and will enjoy and linger with the Lord. These three thoughts are linked together for us in John 14. The Lord Jesus said, "In My Father's house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be" (vv. 2-3). The Lord will come again and will prepare a place for us. He Himself will also abide with us forever.
The morning star speaks of the imminent coming of the day. Before the Lord Jesus sends the tribulations to judge the world, He will first receive us back to Himself. At that time we will reign with Him. At that time the staff will not be turned to a serpent; rather, in His hand, the staff will become a symbol of righteousness, and no opposer in the world will be able to withstand His power. At that time we will share with the Lord in His government. What a blessing that will be! Hence, the Lord is speaking here of the future rapture and reigning of the saints so that their hearts will not take the present age as their goal, but will take the future glory as their focus. Those who can be attracted by these things of the future will be overcomers in Thyatira. We must know the Lord and the future things in this way in order that we will not be affected by the present apostasy and corruption around us. Naturally speaking, our hearts easily turn to vanity and hope for prominence in the world. If there is not the hope of the future, our hearts will not be preserved to relinquish the present evil age.
Actually, every sin in the present world and the church is also in our hearts. Indeed, if we do not judge before the Lord the root of evil hiding in our hearts, we cannot reject the fruit of corruption appearing in the present world and the church. These sins are produced when man allows the flesh to remain. If Satan is to operate, he must have his sphere of operation. Because man is unwilling to remove everything of the flesh in himself, many failures result. The most important thing for us to do now is to ask God to do a deeper work in us through the cross so that we can be single-heartedly attracted by the coming rapture and kingdom. If we want our hearts to be preserved and to be kept away from the multifarious perils in our environment, we must have this hope. The Lord is now presenting these two things before the weary saints so that they would lift up their heads, hope for the coming things, and overcome in a corrupting environment.
Verse 29:"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
This calling was formerly placed before the promise to the overcomers, but beginning from Thyatira, this word is placed after the promise. In the previous three churches, it was first the calling of those who have ears to hear the words of the Holy Spirit, then the promise to the overcomers. However, beginning from Thyatira and continuing all the way to Laodicea, it is first the promise of blessing and glory to the overcomers, then the calling of those who have an ear to hear the words of the Holy Spirit to the churches. The last four churches will remain until the Lord Jesus comes back again.
In the first three letters, those who have ears are related to the general testimony of the church. The overcomers are the ones who are separated from among them. However, in the last four letters, they mention the overcoming first, then the calling to hear. This shows that the faithful ones are distinct from the whole. God purposely separated the remnant overcomers and showed that they are not related to the church as a whole. This shows that the present calling of the Holy Spirit can no longer be heard by the whole church. Rather, only the overcoming remnant can hear it. From this point on, only the overcomers can hear the calling of the Holy Spirit.
We know that it is very meaningful for the Holy Spirit to inspire the writing of the Bible in this way. In the first three letters, He put the calling consistently before the promises. In the last four letters, He put the promises consistently before the calling. If we understand God's mind and feeling, our hearts will be purified, preserved, and led. Those who do not know God's way will fail and will err, but those who know God's heart will see the Lord's way in everything.
In this way, we see that in the first three churches, the Lord calls the whole body to hear. Whether or not they can hear is another matter. The Lord at any rate has called them. However, in the last four churches, due to the change in circumstances, the Lord is no longer able to place the calling after His words to the whole church. Rather, He has placed the calling after the promises to the overcomers, as if to say that the Lord does not expect anyone to hear them except the overcomers. Sin has sprung up in the nominal organizations. As a result, the Lord's promise and calling can no longer be as general as before. From now on, we see a clearer and clearer distinction between God's remnant and the general majority. Formerly, the difference between the overcomers and the general majority was only a moral one. Now this difference is a manifested matter.
At the time of Pergamos, the church was at the initial stage of the Roman Catholic Church, but the church in Thyatira represents the church from the time Christianity was accepted as the state religion of the Roman Empire until the Reformation. However, this does not mean that when the Reformation came, it no longer existed. It existed and will exist until the Lord Jesus comes again. In the church of this period, the Romish Pope exalted himself to be the official representative of Christ, holding the shepherd's staff to shepherd the nations. He was supposedly the successor of the apostle and bore the apostolic authority. Only he had the authority to expound the Bible. Ordinary believers could not read the Bible. In other words, they did not have to hear the Lord's word. Even if they were to read the Bible, they were told that they could not understand it. The church had the authority to expound and to teach the Bible. The church had received authority from the Lord, and whatever it would bind on earth would be bound in heaven, and whatever it would loose on earth would be loosed in heaven. It seems as if even the authority for salvation was in the hand of the church.
During this period, the church considered that the earthly kings could only rule over men's bodies, but that its own popes and priests could rule over men's souls. Even the souls of the kings were under them! As such, the church was greater and higher than even the worldly monarchies. In this way, the church reigned in the world and hoped to turn the world through its works into the kingdom of the heavens. Moreover, it actually took over political affairs and subjected the rulers of the world under it. The result of such work afforded no benefit other than making it completely worldly. It had completely forgotten all positions that the Son of God holds. It had also lost knowledge of its own position.
The word "Thyatira" means "unceasing sacrifices." At that time the church introduced many heathen religious practices into the church. As a result, many superstitious things abounded in the church.
It was at this time that many faithful children of God rose up to testify against the errors, but what they received was nothing but persecutions and bloodshed. Countless numbers of God's children were killed by Jezebel at this time. However, at this time God also had His remnant. They were the godly saints and the zealous preachers who served God faithfully. They were willing to suffer, to be rejected, and to take the narrowest way in the world.
