The
Seven Churches of the 21st Century
Chapter 5
Thyatira: Clinging To Paganism
Revelation 2:18-29
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
At this point we should recognize that there is a progression in these seven churches, a progression downward. The progression began with Ephesus, was briefly interrupted by Smyrna, and continued with Pergamum. We now see the progression going still further with Thyatira, and as we’ll see in our next chapter, Sardis. As the letter to the church at Smyrna was the shortest of the seven letters, the letter to Thyatira was the longest. The Lord had much to say to this church, a church that was carrying on the tendency started in Pergamum. While the believers in Pergamum were “tolerating” the world, those in Thyatira were quite literally clinging to paganism, passionately embracing pagan practices.
And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;
The picture of Christ in this verse comes from Revelation 1:14-15:
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
It’s extremely significance that this is the most frightening picture of Christ in all the seven letters. The Lord presents Himself as One Who is bringing terrible judgment upon those at Thyatira because they had not only allowed paganism into their midst, they were embracing it. As we’ll see later in this study, God will not tolerate paganism.
Verse 14 declares that His eyes were as a flame of fire. Ponder a few characteristics of fire: (1) It burns away any mask, pretense, or facade; (2) It penetrates any obstacle; (3) It consumes anything in its path and utterly devastates; (4) It reproduces itself. Our Lord then uses the term feet of bronze to show His intention to crush sin and rebellion under foot.
The literal meaning of “Thyatira” is continual sacrifice. This fact cannot be over-emphasized, and the significance of it will become clear in the two sections on the “Prophetic History” of this church.
Prophetic
History
The church at Thyatira is
extremely significant in viewing Church History for it pictures the period of
Church History called “The Middle Ages” (590-1517), the latter of which was
“The Dark Ages.” As we’ll see in much more detail later, this was the period in
which the rise of “Romanism” (Roman Catholicism) took place. The Catholic
“mass” is, as the name “Thyatira” shows, a continual sacrifice for the
sins of the living and dead. We’ll come back to this under “The Rebuke.”
The city of Thyatira was located about thirty-five miles southeast of Pergamum. It was especially known for its wool and dyeing industry. The waters there were so well adapted to dyeing that nowhere else could scarlet cloth be so brilliantly and permanently dyed. We recall that Lydia, Paul’s first convert in Philippi, was a “seller of purple from Thyatira” (Acts 16:14). Thyatira was also a military city, standing between any invading army from the east and Pergamum (the capitol of Asia Minor). Because it stood in an open valley, however, and had no natural defenses, it could not be fortified; the best its garrison of Macedonian troops could hope to do was fight a delaying action that would give Pergamum time to prepare.
I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
Amazingly, our Lord actually did have a great regard for this church. This seems peculiar in light of His scorching rebuke, but it demonstrates once again that we can be doing many things right but still have serious problems. It is for that reason that Scripture commands us to constantly be “[examining ourselves], whether [we] be in the faith” (II Cor. 13:5). Christ’s regard, then, was threefold.
Like those in Ephesus, their works were exemplary. The Greek is again ergon (2:2), which speaks of their systematic labor. Likewise, their service was noteworthy. The Greek here is diakonia, which speaks of labor and service and originally spoke of serving tables. It is similar, of course, to diakonos from which is derived the word “deacon.” Each member of that body, then, was ministering to and serving the others.
They had the attitudes of charity (love) and faith. There was indeed a love for others and a certain piety and devoutness to God. The question that comes to mind at this point is, “If there was so much love and faith in this church, why then was there such a great sin problem?” The answer is found in an interesting contrast between this church and the church at Ephesus. In Ephesus there was doctrine but no love, while in Thyatira there was love but no doctrine. We have the same extremes today. There are those who just want to speak of love but have no in-depth teaching. There are others who have the teaching but do not emphasize the need for believers to minister to one another. There must be a balance. Doctrine is the foundation while love is the decoration.
Another attitude present in Thyatira was patience, as we also saw among the Ephesians (2:2). While there was no direct persecution, those believers patiently endured the hardships of daily life and ministry.
The words, Thy works and the last to be more than the first, show that the church was increasing. To the casual observer, this church was increasing in works, service, and numbers, just like many churches today. But, once again, there was something drastically wrong.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Those are grave words, indeed. Even in view of the regard, this church had been completely absorbed into the world and was even clinging to pagan practices. This section of our study is lengthy, so let us again present it in a threefold fashion.
The thoughts of this letter closely resemble those in the letter to Pergamum, but this letter goes further in its rebuke because this church had gone further in its rebellion. The contrast can be put this way: Pergamum was entangled with the world, while Thyatira was absorbed into the world. Or we can put the matter another way: Pergamum was tolerant of paganism, while Thyatira was clinging to paganism, embracing it as though it were true. As did Israel many times in her history, this church allowed pagan practices into its midst and then even adopted those practices into its worship as though they were totally acceptable unto God.
It is in verse 20, in fact, that we read that the believers in this church had actually allowed pagan teachings into the church. These teachings centered in a woman who is referred to as Jezebel. Now, as most commentators agree, this undoubtedly was not this woman’s real name, rather this name was used by the Lord Jesus in order to show the parallel between the scene here and that of the Old Testament Jezebel (I Kings 16).
Jezebel married Israel’s wicked king Ahab and instituted Baal worship in Israel. Baal (also called Belus) was the Babylonian god of rain and fertility. Beltis (also called Ishtar, Ashtoreth, Astarte, Venus, Aphrodite, etc. by various pagan civilizations) was the female deity of sensual love and fertility. Worship included animal sacrifice, male and female prostitution, sacrifice of virginity, and at times even infant sacrifice. The Jezebel in Thyatira, therefore, who called herself a “prophetess,” taught pagan doctrine and lured many into it. The church was indeed, according to verse 21, clinging to paganism with no intention of change. How many cults have we seen begin in modern times, some of which were started by women, in exactly the same way described here?
We then come to verses 22-23 where we find the judgment that would come upon this Jezebel and her followers. The statement cast her into bed is especially significant since the heart of pagan worship was sexual immorality (symbolized by the bed). So, we could put the matter it this way: The judgment to come would be “the bed of tribulation and death.” The same would be true of her children (i.e. her followers). Even more tragic is the fact that unlike any of the other churches, the corruption in this church was being taught to others. Think of it! As if it was not bad enough that pagan practices were allowed to go on, these practices were being taught within the church! And as we are going to see, such things are still being taught today.
We are about to outline one of the most dramatic and unbelievable things to occur in the history of the Church. As mentioned back in Chapter 1, there are some expositors who question that the seven churches represent seven periods of Church History. But how they can ignore this in light of the following is beyond our understanding.
Prophetic History
The church at Thyatira is,
without any shadow of a doubt, a picture of Papal Rome (i.e. Roman
Catholicism). Catholics quite boldly say: “The first and ONLY church was the
Roman Catholic Church.” All the different branches of the Protestant Church,
they argue, have simply broken away from Rome, the true church. It is insisted
that here was no Protestant Church until Martin Luther. What a lie that is
easily proven to be a lie! Historically, there was no Roman Church (or Papacy)
until the seventh century. For six centuries before that the one true Church,
the body of Christ, was continually growing more corrupt as it drifted away
from the Word of God. Between 313 and 590 the bishop at Rome was considered
“first among equals,” but in 590 the Roman bishop was given supremacy over all
other bishops. In the strict sense of the word, this bishop (who in 590 was
Gregory I) became the first “Pope.” The Papacy then had to go back through
history and arbitrarily choose certain men through whom they could trace
“apostolic succession” back to Peter.
When one honestly and biblically analyzes Catholicism, he finds that virtually every doctrine, holy day, rite, dogma, ceremony, vestment, and title in the Roman Church has its roots in ancient pagan religion. Earlier we mentioned the “continual sacrifice” (the meaning of “Thyatira”) of the Catholic “mass.” During every mass Christ is again offered up in sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead. The priest supposedly calls Christ down from Heaven and sacrifices Him again. It is that “power,” in fact, that is supposedly given to the priest at his ordination. This parallels the pagans as they made “continual sacrifice” to their gods. Such teaching is unimaginable, and it is equally appalling that any true Christian today can tolerate such teaching and even encourage “unity” with the Roman Catholic Church. The Word of God clearly declares that Christ’s sacrifice was once-for-all (Heb. 9:28; 10:10-14), never to be repeated. To do so is to “crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (6:6). Think of it! Tens of millions of times our Lord has been blasphemed by the Roman Catholic mass.
I am absolutely compelled here to interject how grievous a thing it is to hear the word Christmas” come out of the mouth of Christians in a positive way. The word means Christ-Mass and is utter blasphemy. Can we not stop for even a millisecond and think about what we are saying? Can we not stop and realize what we are identifying with and sanctioning? Are Christian leaders simply ignorant of such a fact or just too afraid of offending someone by taking a stand against such blasphemy?
Another graphic illustration is the statues of “The Madonna and Child,” which are so characteristic of Catholicism. Mary is elevated to deity and is worshiped. She is considered to be the “Co-Redemptrix” with Christ, that is, she cooperates with Christ in the work of saving sinners. Further, Mary is also considered “Mediatrix,” that is, she now dispenses God’s grace and blessings to the spiritually needy. These doctrines have always been a part of Catholicism and were reaffirmed in Vatican II (1963-65).
This has direct roots in Babylon! Beltis is equivalent to “Baalti,” which translated into English is “My Lady.” In Latin this is “Mea Dominia,” which was corrupted into “Madonna” in Italian. When one traces this back to Babylon, he finds there the “Goddess Mother and Her Son.” That image literally spread all over the world. In Egypt the statue was Isis and Osiris; in Roman mythology it was Venus and Cupid; in Asia it was Cybele and Deoius; even in the Orient, China for example, we find the mother Shing Moo with a child in her arms and “glory” shining around her as if a Catholic artist had painted it.
I am again compelled to interject that Christians who would never dream of allowing a statue of Mary or one of the “Madonna and Child” into their church do precisely that every single Christmas by erecting a “Nativity Scene.” It is no less an image of “Madonna and Child” than any other.
Nothing is more characteristic of the Roman system, however, and more typical of paganism, than the veneration of relics and statues of the martyrs. Relics include supposed pieces of the cross, bones of martyrs, pieces of the silver coins Judas took for betraying Christ, pieces of cloth woven by the Virgin Mary, and even vials of milk from her breasts. By visiting and venerating such relics worshipers are promised less time in purgatory. There is also the veneration of statues of the saints by kissing them, bowing down to them, and burning candles and incense before them. And what do we do in churches today? We have “candlelight services.” All of this is without argument pagan in origin. Among the Egyptians, for example, the God Osiris was venerated by relics. There were sepulchers of that martyred god all over Egypt, all containing an arm, a leg, or even a skull, all of which were claimed to be genuine.
There are numerous other things in Catholicism that have their roots in ancient paganism. We could examine baptismal regeneration, justification by works, purgatory, prayers for the dead, the rosary, the sign of the cross, the “stations” of the cross, the “Sovereign Pontiff” (the Pope), as well as priests, monks, and nuns. All of this stuff and much more came right out of Babylon and into the Roman system. In His commentary on Revelation, Harry Ironside provides us with one of the best descriptions of Roman Catholicism ever written:
Romanism is Christianity, Judaism, and Heathenism joined together; and the Lord abhors the vile combination. God gave Rome space to repent, and she repented not. Go back to the days of Savanarola (Italy), Wickliffe and Cranmer (England), John Knox (Scotland), Martin Luther (Germany), Zwingle (Switzerland), Calvin (France)—all those mighty reformers whom God raised up throughout the world to call Rome to repent of her iniquity, but she repented not. If she had any desire to get right with Him, she would have repented in the sixteenth century.
No truer words have ever been written. Since the 16th Century, there has been the Council of Trent, Vatican I, and Vatican II, and the Roman system remains unchanged and unrepentant. It is no less than a monstrous evil.
May we also add, as the Old Testament Jezebel killed Godly Naboth, the Roman Catholic Church instituted the inquisition during this period of history and killed many true Christians who stood against pagan Rome. There is no denying that Roman Catholicism is as far from true Christianity as one can get. In spite of that fact, however, many supposedly evangelical leaders today continue to call for unity among Catholics and evangelicals, calling the Reformation the biggest mistake in Church History. Oh, how God is going to judge!
Does that mean we hate Catholics? ABSOLUTELY NOT! We pity them and make them an object of our passionate witness, for they have been deluded by countless lies. But we do, indeed, hate the pagan Roman system, for there is no greater blasphemy in the annals of religion. It is a perversion of the true Gospel that has spewed out of Hell itself.
How does all this relate and apply to Christians today? We see here two strong applications.
First, an application that practically jumps off the page is that a woman was being allowed to teach within the Church, a practice that permeates the Church today. Never in Church History do we find as many women in Church leadership than today, in spite of the fact of how plainly Scripture says that they should not; there is a whole horde of women leaders and teachers in churches, seminars, ladies retreats, private Bible studies, and the like. Try as I might, I do not understand how a principle that is so clear, so unambiguous, so beyond any doubt, can be so ignored. Paul could not have been clearer when he wrote these three separate clauses to Timothy: “But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Tim. 2:2). In the meeting and ministry of the Church, a woman is neither to teach nor have a position of leadership. Men are to lead, and women are to follow.
This fact bears out throughout the New Testament. Not once do we see a women pastor-teacher, evangelist, bishop, or elder. As in the Old Testament, no New Testament author was a woman, nor do we find a record of a sermon or teaching by a woman. Yes, Acts 21:9 records that the daughters of Philip “prophesied,” but neither the occasion nor the message is included, so there is no justification in assuming that they taught during the public worship, much less that they had an ongoing preaching ministry. The book of Acts, in fact, nowhere records a women teaching in public, much less teaching men. While 1 Corinthians 11:5 permits women to pray and speak the Word, Paul makes it clear in 14:34 and I Timothy 2:11-12 that it is not to be in the assembly of the church.
In addition to
all that evidence, presbuteros
(“elder”) is masculine. If women could be elders, the Bible would somewhere say
so by using the Greek presbutera, but we never find that term in the Bible
as speaking of a female elder. The word presbuteras does appear in
I Timothy 5:2, but it is used only to refer to older women not women elders.
Likewise, the requirements for leadership in I Timothy 3:1-7 speak specifically
of “a man” desiring the office (v. 1) and the
necessity of him being “the husband of one wife” (v. 2); with no sarcasm intended,
I know of no way that a woman can be the husband of one wife.
It is a sad commentary on the Church today that a principle so crystal clear, an issue so beyond any doubt whatsoever, can still be totally ignored or readjusted for the express purpose of conforming to modern thought.
Second, another application that is even clearer than the first is: Stay away from any hint of paganism. A truth that Christians today simply do not realize is that with the exception of hypocrisy, there is nothing that God hates more or judges more harshly than false worship and paganism (please read that statement again). At the very foundation of God’s Law were the commands:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me (Ex. 20:3-5).
Lest we read it quickly, we need to emphasize that God said, in the context of religion purpose, we are not to make any image or any likeness of any thing. Could God have been clearer? God’s people were not (and are not today) to make anything a religious symbol. Period! To do so was (and is) to invite God’s wrath not only upon those do so, but also to their descendents for up to four generations. God is holy and righteous, and He will not tolerate false worship.
What I have always found so significant of the incident above is that that within hours of God giving those commands, the children of Israel defiled themselves with a pagan idol. We should carefully note in Exodus 32:15 that as Moses came down from the mountain, with God’s Law still in his hands, he found the people worshipping the principle god of Egypt, a Bull, and saw thousands of naked people in the throes of a pagan orgy.
Could anything be more appalling? The answer is YES! Even more significant is verse 5, where upon seeing the newly constructed idol, Aaron “built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.” Here is something unimaginable. Just like millions of people do today, they blended paganism in with what God created and actually tried to honor God with it; they tried to “sanctify” the filth of paganism and dedicate it to God. What was the result? At first God intend to consume the entire nation (v. 10) and simply start over again! Because of Moses’ intercession, however, God relented, but Moses himself still ordered that 3,000 of the worst offenders be killed (v. 28).
Equal to that incident was another in Numbers 25. Balaam lured many of the men of Israel into the worship of the Moabite farm and fertility god Baal-peor, which involved immoral sexual rites and ritualistic feasting. What was the result? One thousand worship leaders were beheaded and their heads displayed for all to see (v. 4). An additional 24,000 were killed in a plague (v. 9).
One would think that those judgments would have been enough. Not so. The Balaam incident, in fact, actually started a trend among the Israelites that lasted for over 1,000 years! In Judges 2:10-15, a new generation of Israelites forsook the Lord and worshipped Baal and Ashteroth. As a result God sold them into the hands of their enemies. The same thing happened again in Judges 3:7-8. Even Solomon, in his old age, tolerated and eventually openly practiced the worship of Ashtoreth, and God severely chastised him using his enemies Hadad, Rezon, and Heroboam (I Kings 11).
Again, this continued for centuries until God finally allowed the Babylonians, the very originators of pagan worship, to carry His chosen people into captivity for 70 years. It’s significant, thankfully, that in those 70 years the Israelites finally got “a belly full” of paganism; after their release never again did they fall into pagan worship, even to this very day.
In spite of those sobering warnings, however, one of the saddest facts in Christianity today is that countless believers cling to pagan practices in their homes and churches. They put up (and even venerate) symbols and images in direct contradiction to the very foundation of the God’s Word. At the end of this book there is an Appendix containing an in-depth study of the so-called “holidays” (which is derived from “Holy Days”) that we observe today, holidays that are in every respect and every tradition (without exception) pagan in origin. For our present purposes, however, we’ll touch briefly on the subject. My purpose is not to offend or upset anyone, rather to plead with God’s people to rid our homes and churches of things cannot possible please Him, no matter how we try to “sanctify” them.
For example, the things we observe during “Easter” (right along with Catholicism) came right out of Babylon. Did you get that? The forty days of abstinence during “Lent” was borrowed directly from the worshippers of Ishtar. The “hot cross buns” of Good Friday were eaten in worship of Ishtar (Jer. 7:18). The “Easter Egg” was a symbol of Astarte (fertility) and supposedly possessed mystic powers. “The egg” is also found among the Hindus, Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Japanese. The word “Easter” is itself Babylonian and is merely a transliteration of the word “Ishtar.” I am not making this up; this is historical fact.
Additionally, and even more dramatic, without a single exception, every custom observed at “Christmas” is also totally pagan in origin, as even secular resources make very clear. The Christmas tree, yule log, mistletoe, holly, ivy, and even the greeting “Merry Christmas” are throw backs to ancient pagan practices. Even the date, December 25, was intentionally chosen by the Roman Catholic Church to try to blend it with two pagan festivals: the Saturnalia, which honored Saturnius, the god of agriculture, and Dies Natalis Solis Invictus, the Day of the Birth of the Undefeated Sun. Even worse, the very term “Christ-mas” glorifies the blasphemous Roman Catholic doctrine of the mass, and how true Christians can continue to revere this is beyond comprehension.
As if all that were not enough, most Christians think nothing of observing Valentine’s Day, which is nothing but the worship of Venus and Cupid, and many think Halloween is a cute and fun time, when in reality it is a day that belongs to Satan.
Even seemingly harmless days have pagan origins. Consider, for example, Saint Patrick’s Day on March 17. Yes, it’s celebrated to commemorate the death of the great Celtic missionary to Ireland in the 5th Century. But in reality, the Irish have observed that day as a religious holiday for thousands of years. It is, in fact, the national day of Ireland, which celebrates the Trefuilnid Treochair, “triple bearer of the triple key,” the trident-carrying Celtic deity who was later assimilated into Saint Patrick. His sacred symbol is the shamrock, and worshipers are to wear green to symbolize the return of spring and the return of growth and fertility to the land. Even Patrick himself chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity. He used bonfires, for example, to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that worship of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. Mark it down: The blending of paganism with Christianity, something God could not judge harshly enough, has consistently occurred throughout the history of the Church.
We should make one point here. Regarding what we examined earlier about relics and statues, there is no better summary than the following from the well known and mammoth work, McClintock and Strong’s Encyclopedia. It starts by recording the fact, “Images were unknown in the worship of primitive Christians, who abstained from worship of images because they thought it unlawful in itself to make any images of deity.” Did you get that? The Primitive Church, that is, the Church of the New Testament and the days shortly thereafter, did not use images of any kind. Why? Because God forbid it! But something happened.
By the steady pressure of the heathen ideas and habits upon Christianity, emblems such as the dove, the fish, the anchor, vine, lamb, etc., formed the first step; then, paintings representing great Biblical events, saints, martyrs, which were placed in the vestibule of the church. Yet this practice was unfavorably regarded by the synods of the fourth century. When, however, in the same century, Christianity was proclaimed (by Constantine) the religion of the state, the use of painting, sculpture and jewelry became general for the decoration of the churches resulting in the adoption of a regular system of symbolic religious images. The teachers of the church became gradually more accommodating in their relations with the heathen, allowing them to retain their old usages, while conforming to the outward forms of Christianity. Thus the worship of images became so general that it had to be repeatedly checked by laws. In the sixth century, it had grown into a great abuse, especially in the East, where images were made the object of a special adoration: they were kissed, lamps were burned before them, incense was offered to them—in short, they were treated in every respect as the heathen were wont to treat the images of their gods. The same arguments now used by the Romanists to defend image worship were rejected by Christians of the first three centuries when used in defense of image worship. The heathen said, We do not worship the images themselves, hut those whom they represent. To this Lactantius (third century A.D.) answers, “You worship them; for, if you believe them to be in heaven, why do you not raise your eyes up to heaven? Why do you look at the images, and not up where you believe them to be?” Thomas Aquinas, a Roman Catholic (13th century), declared, “A picture, considered in itself, is worthy of no veneration, but if we consider it as an image of Christ, it may be allowable to make an internal distinction between the image and its subject, and adoration and service are as well due to it as to Christ.” Bonaventura the Franciscan, said, “Since all veneration shown to the image of Christ is shown to Christ himself, then the image of Christ is also entitled to be prayed to.” Bellarmine, Rome’s principal authority in dogmatic theology (1542-1621), writes, “The images of Christ and the saints are to be adored, not only in a figurative manner, but quite positively, so that the prayers are directly addressed to them, and not merely as representatives of the original.” De Imaginibus.
Again, in direct contradiction to God’s command to make no religious images, the Church slowly, step by step, did exactly that. And appallingly, we see very much the same veneration of images even among evangelicals. I know, some folks get upset with such strong statements, but I again appeal to the hearts of God’s people. We hang pictures of Jesus on the wall, plaster Christian symbols on our cars, and wear jewelry with religious symbols. We are simply compelled to say, on the authority of the Word of God, such practices are unbiblical and pagan in origin. Such things do not please God. Further, they cannot please Him because He forbids them. Again, we should not try to justify such things, or try to “sanctify” such practices by trying to find some “spiritual application.” Rather we should grieve over such habits and burn the offending articles.
The reader is urged to read the Appendix before going on to the next chapter. From the depths of my heart I submit that we should mourn over these things. Why do Christians want to cling to paganism? Is it for sentimental reasons? Is it just out of tradition? Is it just because it’s fun? Whatever the reason, and if God’s Word is true, such things blaspheme God. As we noted in our study of the Church at Smyrna, those believers were killed for standing against such pagan worship. But in Thyatira, and in Christianity today, there are many who cling to such practices as if they were pivotal to Christian living.
Let us take special note of the latter part of verse 23: all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. The word reins translates the Greek nephros, which literally means “kidney.” It’s used metaphorically to refer to the innermost mind, desires, and passions, much like we use the word “heart” in our day. Hearts, then, is kardia, which originally referred to the seat of emotions and spirituality but eventually came to mean spiritual and intellectual life. Our Lord is, therefore, telling us that He looks into our very being and sees our thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, and intentions. There is no pretense before Him and we can hide nothing from Him. What a challenge that is, then, to get our thoughts, feelings, desires, motives, and intentions right before God in the area of paganism.
. . . except they repent of their deeds. . . . But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
We find here a twofold requirement.
We have dealt with this already. “Jezebel” and her followers in Thyatira refused to repent, and so did the Roman Church, and it remains unrepentant in our day. The question that remains is, “Will we repent?”
Not everyone in the church at Thyatira was corrupt. The same is true historically; not everyone was corrupt during the Dark Ages of Church History. Our Lord addresses these using the words as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan. The ancient Gnostics were always speaking of “deeper knowledge” that only they could discover, which is the same teaching of countless groups through the ages: the Christian Scientist, the Spiritist, the Scientologist, the New Ager, and a plethora of others. So there were those who stayed pure, a remnant who remained faithful, upon whom no judgment would fall.
Still Christ challenged these believers as well as those who were not faithful. He told them to hold fast till I come. Hold fast is the Greek (krateo), which means “lay hold of, seize, adhere to.” What is it that we seize? To what do we adhere? THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. We are to cling to Him until He comes to take us home. This is the first mention of Christ coming for the Church in the book of Revelation. We should also point out that the verb tense here is the Aorist Tense (the tense which shows punctiliar action). The significance of this is that these believers had “let go” of certain truths and needed to grab hold of them again. Oh, how we need to grab onto the Truth! Oh, how we need to cling to the Savior, not paganism!
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
For their obedience, the believers in Thyatira were promised two things.
This is the first definite statement concerning the coming Millennial Kingdom in the book of Revelation (see 19:15; 20:4-6). The Roman Papacy wants to rule now; throughout Church History, it has been behind the scenes of many governments, pulling the strings of many a ruler. The book of Revelation, however, tells us that when Christ comes He will show that the Roman Church is not the Church but is the Harlot, Religious Babylon.
The words My works (speaking of Jesus’ works) are in contrast to the works of Jezebel. So, those who hold to Christ’s works will actually aid Him in His reign on earth during the Millennium. What a thought!
The words The Morning Star are yet another reference to Christ (see also 22:16 and II Pet. 1:19). Think of it! When we go to heaven, Christ will be ours. In other words, if we have clung only to Him, we are going to know a special kind of communion with Him. Of course, all believers will have communion with Christ, but the declaration here is that those who have clung only to Him, those who have rid their lives of pagan distraction, will have a special communion. Did you get that? We’re not told what this communion is, but we can only imagine how sweet it will be.
Verse 29 closes the letter to Thyatira, but we should take special note of it uniqueness. In the first three letters the “call to hear” was given before the “Reassurance.” In this letter, however, and the last three, the “call to hear” is given after the “Reassurance.” That fact dramatically shows that only true believers will listen and heed Christ’s words. There are many today (those in the Roman system, for example) who profess to know Christ but will not listen to and heed the message of this letter. Even some professing evangelicals refuse to listen and heed. How many of those rebellious ones are not true believers at all?
In closing, I admit that what has been said has been strong, but may I point out that the letter itself is strong. We examined a church that was destroying itself, not by all the good things it was doing, but by putting itself under the wrath of God by clinging to some things that didn’t seem to make all that much difference, but were in actuality blaspheming God. Oh, my Dear Christian Friend, cling only to your Dear Savior. Uplift Him only in all that you say and do.