Revelation 2:18–29

To Thyatira the Lord presented Himself as the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine brass. This is remarkable. In the vision of Revelation 1, John saw these features on One like the Son of Man. But we believe the church in Thyatira is a prophetic picture of the period that saw the Roman hierarchy rise to power. If so, how fitting this change of title is. Rome admits that He is the Son of God, yet lays all the emphasis on His being the Son of Mary, so much so that in the end Mary becomes the more prominent. But no — the Son of God is the One who has the eyes that penetrate and discern all things, and the feet that will crush all evil.

So it is no longer "He that has the sharp sword with two edges," but the "Son of God." He must assert His authority as a divine Being over the Church. He rises into a sphere where she dare not pretend to be. With Him alone are the "eyes as a flame of fire," the insight that is truly infallible and holy. And the "feet like fine brass" go with those eyes, bringing judgment no one can resist.

Up to now I have understood brass as judgment according to works, when connected with responsibility. The eyes as a flame of fire I have understood as the penetrating power of God's judgment (Rev. 2:18, 23). In the second of those verses God "searches mind and heart," and gives to each one according to their works.

Brass is a symbol of righteousness according to the claims of God upon man, as in the bronze altar. In the vision in Revelation the Lord has feet like fine brass, "burning as in a furnace." That is, righteous judgment according to responsibility.

The Church of Rome presumes to be the chaste bride of Christ. Against this self-asserting, pretentious bride the Lord has to assert His authority as the Son of God in judgment. He is "a son over His own house" (Heb. 3:6). As such He holds authority and stands ready to act in judgment against evil. The Church of the living God is the house of God on earth, and holiness fits His house (1 Timothy 3:15; Psalm 93:5). So the Lord will not tolerate evil in His house. He will judge it in His own time.

He gives liberty as well as life. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). These are the two great blessings that mark Jesus as the Son of God. Not that they have always or necessarily gone together. For a person might have spiritual life and yet be in painful bondage, as one sees too often.

In Thyatira there is still much faithfulness and zeal, but the mass is corrupt, and the call to hear is no longer addressed to the whole church, but only to the faithful. Moreover, in this and the following letters the Lord's coming is named, which seems to show that, historically, we have now reached a phase in the story of Christendom that will last until the end of the Church's time on earth.

As Son of man the apostle has seen Him in the vision that opens the book. As Son of man He will soon take a throne which He can share with men, His redeemed. Till then they are in the field of conflict, to overcome as He overcame. This is the clear answer to the dream of worldly authority that grips the false church in Thyatira. Rome would reign before Christ reigns.

The previous verse showed the Lord to Thyatira in a severe way. After that, it is surprising to read these wonderful words of praise. But it is always our Lord's way to praise first all that is good and worthy, before He deals with what is grievous and evil to His holy eyes.

He knew even in Thyatira things that were good; not only works but love, faith, service, patience. Moreover their last works were more than the first — they increased as time went on. Though things were very dark, as the following verses show, the eyes like a flame of fire saw the good, where perhaps we would have seen none. That is a helpful thought for us today. When things are really bad, we are too quick to condemn everything without exception.

Among the things the Lord praises in these faithful believers in Thyatira, love comes first. Love is the great mark of the divine nature, and of God who is love. All spiritual activity springs from it. In the more accurate translations, faith comes next. It is "faith which works through love" (Gal. 5:6), and it shows itself in service to God and man. Then there was patience, or endurance in the middle of much persecution.

The work of faith, the labour of love and the patience of hope in the Lord marked the faithful few at Thyatira. These things were missing at Ephesus. Ephesus was guilty of leaving her first love, so she had only work, labour and patience, without the spring that sets them going.

The angel at Ephesus had declined in love, while the angel at Thyatira had increased in works. The darker the night, the more devoted and eager the godly company were. Their "last works more than the first" were more in number, more pure, and higher in character, as the fruit of faith. This church is also praised for its love, faith, service, and endurance: four practical features of Christian life. We judge that "service" here covers ministry in its widest sense, both spiritual and material… Thyatira alone among the seven is praised for its "love" and "service."

Such high praise came in a day when the general state of the Christian world was very low. That only shows a truth: the worse the corruption of the crowd who merely profess Christ's name, the greater the energy and devotion of the faithful few. The greatest saints are found in the darkest day. Israel never had a darker day than when the wicked Jezebel ruled… Still, in that dark day, there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

This is very great praise, and it has puzzled some… Remember this: all through the Scriptures, whenever a whole body fails, the faithful remnant takes on the place of the whole before God… So it is in the church of God. On this principle the Lord can credit to Thyatira all the state and activity of the devoted saints inside her.

We know little of the hidden lives of those who walked humbly and in secret with their God, in the proud and overbearing days of Rome's tyranny. It is a comfort to see how fully Christ could value them, and how openly He will yet acknowledge them… Here is the record: they are not forgotten, those nameless ones, and those whose names were dishonoured. "Works and love and faith" — how they were tested! "And service" — in the face of what discouragement! "And your patience" — that long endurance!

The Authorised Version reads, "I have a few things against you." The Revised Version and others read, "I have against you." The Lord had a grave charge against the angel. Through its representatives, the Church was allowing an evil among them more serious than any that had appeared before. In other words, the papacy stands at the front of this address... It seems obvious that Thyatira pictures the general state of the Church in the Middle Ages.

The charge here is not only the personal guilt of the teacher, but the tolerating or allowing of what another does. "But I have against you that you permit the woman Jezebel." You may be clear of the evil doctrine yourself, and you may condemn it. That is important for every child of God. But it is not enough. These addresses show that the Lord calls for more. Where people teach, or even hold, what offends Christ, He demands that we "repent" of their presence among us. All are affected by tolerating the evil inside, whether it is actively taught or only quietly held.

The Lord said, "You permit that woman Jezebel … and she teaches." There is a twofold rebuke in these words, which the Authorised Version obscures. First, they tolerated a wicked person, in defiance of 1 Corinthians 5:13. Second, they let a woman teach, against what 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:12 forbid... The woman in Thyatira called herself a prophetess. That is, she claimed to teach by divine authority. But her teaching was vile, and meant to lead souls astray. We need not suppose that her name was really Jezebel; the name is used symbolically.

Balaam, named in the message to the angel of the Church in Pergamos, was a seducer from outside. He stands for the snare which the world became to the Church. Jezebel was a corrupter inside and represents the shameless alliance of the Church with idolatry and with the world.

To understand the meaning of the "woman Jezebel," we must recall Israel's history in the days of the real Jezebel. King Ahab married her, lost his own place and authority as king, and let this wicked woman rule. Under her rule the whole country was led into idolatry... In the same way, a false church system rises up and tries to rule Christendom. Like a prophetess, it claims to speak with divine authority and to pass on the mind of God. It takes the place of "teacher" and "leader" of God's people. For the Lord says, "You permit … that woman … to teach and to lead away My servants." So the teaching of this evil system sets three things aside. First, the Word of God, which gives the mind of God. Second, the Spirit of God as the Teacher. Third, Christ as the Head and Leader of His people.

The sin of fornication or adultery here is a picture of wicked dealing with the world. For a Christian or a church, such dealing is what marrying a Canaanite would have been for an Israelite. To eat food sacrificed to idols shows communion with what was directly linked to the power of Satan, for "what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God." And it is an easy thing to have fellowship with demons. Men think little of it, and even Christians fail to weigh how serious it is.

It is striking that the Lord Jesus shows people in Thyatira whom He called "My servants," despite everything against them. And so it has always been. There is every reason to believe that many God-fearing people never left the Roman Catholic system. They had a conscience about the word of God and a love for the Saviour. Yet it was plainer still that they were dulled by accepting a merely human unity and by the doings of Jezebel.

"I gave her time to repent," and she did not repent. So we see that God does not judge her all at once. He gives her time to repent. He is patient with her, but she does not repent. He was not dealing with the pagan world here. To them He preaches the gospel, so that He may win their souls to Christ. But this was a woman who called herself a prophetess in the church. She taught God's servants "to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols." God deals with her on the ground of what she claimed to be.

The Lord's patient grace still waits, even in the case of Jezebel. He says, "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not"; or, more exactly, "And I gave her time to repent, and she wills not to repent of her sexual immorality." How long that time was in Thyatira we do not know. But in the historical church that this assembly stands for, what patience the Lord has shown! What constant calls to repentance, what warnings in one form or another — and all in vain. "She wills not to repent." This is not mere blindness and ignorance. It is her will acting against God.

Repentance was flatly refused, though the Lord had given plenty of space for it. "Fornication" (for that is the figure used) was both taught and practised. His long patience is the sure sign of two things. First, that what He was about to judge was completely evil — otherwise He comes quickly, in the jealous care of true love that counts on a true answer. Second, that when the judgment comes, it must be final and unsparing. … The sin of fornication or adultery here pictures that sinful dealing with the world. For a Christian or for the church, it is what marrying a Canaanite would have been for an Israelite.

The Lord gave space for repentance; but, He says, "She will not repent." To Ephesus He said that He would remove the lampstand unless there was repentance. Here He never mentions the lampstand. That shows He did not own the system Jezebel stands for as a light for Himself.

There is a third thing that we find only in the last letters: a church inside this great, wide Christendom. The system is never to repent. God "gave her time to repent" of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent — though people may get clear of it.

Seven times the Lord says, "Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." We are not told to hear what is said to one particular church, but to all of them. May we not say that the Spirit's first great call is to "repent"? Five times in these letters we hear the call to repentance. The Lord has exposed the evils in the professing church and among His people. So it is for us to own our failure and humble ourselves in the dust because of the low moral condition that lies at the root of all failure.

The Lord's patient grace still waits, even in Jezebel's case. He says, "And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not." A better rendering is: "And I gave her space to repent, and she wills not to repent of her fornication." How long that space lasted at Thyatira we do not know. But think of the historical church which that assembly pictures. What patience the Lord has shown! What constant calls to repentance, what warnings of one kind or another — and all in vain! "She wills not to repent of her fornication." It is not mere blindness and ignorance. It is her will acting against God.

"Behold, I cast her into a bed." The word "bed" stands in sharp contrast to the bed of the harlot with its forbidden pleasure. It will be a bed of affliction. Next come "those who commit adultery with her" — the first and only time the word "adultery" appears in Revelation. Those who have tampered with the evil, who have defiled themselves by association with Jezebel, are the group meant here — a growing crowd in our times, born of the false spirit of tolerating evil and ignoring it.

At Thyatira, Jezebel, as queen and prophetess, claims that authority rests in herself… She calls herself a prophetess as a cover for spreading her evil teachings. The Lord thinks so little of this authority that, in His anger, He "casts her into a bed", feeble and powerless, and what comes from her He kills with death.

There are two kinds of judgment here, for they were not all the children of Jezebel. In Scripture, committing adultery is a common picture of tampering with evil, especially idol worship, because it meant God's people giving themselves to someone other than Him… Some are not her children, but people who deal with her, who are content to keep company with the evil and share in it… Those who have committed adultery with her, who have tampered with this spirit of false prophecy, "I will cast into great tribulation, except they repent." But those who are her children, who got their Christian place and name through this false doctrine, will have full judgment.

There are varying degrees of guilt, but the main point to grasp is that God judges evil according to the measure of each one's responsible connection with it.

It is a principle with God always to give an opportunity for repentance before He carries out judgment. "I gave her space to repent." He has always acted this way from the beginning of time, and His Church and His people should act the same way. Even when speaking of the judgment He would bring on Jezebel, the Lord adds, "except they repent." Such is His patience and His longing to see His professed people recover from evil.

This vile system will come into "great tribulation." This looks on to the time told in greater detail in Revelation 17 — 18. Then the revived Roman Empire, as God's instrument, will destroy this system.

The verse does not say "the great tribulation" in so many words. Still, we would judge that what Jezebel represents will grow into the mystical Babylon of Revelation 17, and will be destroyed during the great tribulation period. The judgment, when it comes, will be final.

There are two kinds of judgment, for they were not all the children of Jezebel... Some commit adultery with her; they have tampered with this spirit of false prophecy. Of them He says, "I will cast into great tribulation, unless they repent." But her children have got their Christian place and name because of this false doctrine. They shall have full judgment: "I will kill her children with death." It is not tribulation only for them.

You can see how active Jezebel is, because she has "children." They were born and shaped by her evil teaching. So they presented themselves as the expression of her views and as her spokesmen.

True believers, even though linked with her, are not her children.

There is full judgment for those who have become devoted followers of Rome and keep this evil system going. There is spiritual death as well as physical death. There is also the second death, which is eternal separation from God (Ezek. 18:4; Rev. 20:12-15).

The kidneys, used symbolically for the inward thoughts and feelings. Ps. 7:9; Ps. 16:7; Ps. 26:2; Ps. 139:13; Prov. 23:16; Jer. 12:2; Jer. 17:10; Jer. 20:12; Lam. 3:13; Rev. 2:23.

When the Lord exposes the evil in the professing church and judges it, the practical effect is that the churches come to know that Christ searches the reins and hearts. Hidden evil comes to light, and Christ is acknowledged as the divine Searcher of the secret thoughts and hidden deeds of men. In Old Testament times this belonged to Jehovah alone (Jer. 17:10). The churches are to learn the lesson — or rather to know that Christ, the One they have to deal with, carries out this solemn work. He knows everything.

In Revelation 2 and 3, we see the Lord Jesus Christ walking among the churches with the eyes of fire — not in the world. He is there so that "all the churches may know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts." In His discipline He may be dealing with something in us that we know nothing about, but which He sees... It is a very solemn thing for us to despise the chastening of the Lord. He chastens us because we are loved, because we are His.

The closing words of verse 23 are an encouragement. The Lord will deal with the evil system, yet He will judge each soul individually. He will repay each one according to their works. The individual is not lost in the crowd. In the case of Thyatira this leads to the discovery of a remnant that is for God, as the following verses show.

Every professed believer is also accountable to God for his own works.

The Lord turns to "the rest," or the remnant, in Thyatira, "who do not hold this teaching." Here, for the first time, He formally recognises believers who are not counted in the public state of the assembly, yet who are not as openly separate as believers were in a later day… So the Lord speaks with great tenderness of those who were true to His name. He did not expect great things from them.

So the time had come when people who turned away from evil were counted mad. The people they refused to walk with accused them of knowing the "depths of Satan" — that is, of being led by him, as having fallen into one of his most subtle traps. And what brought on this terrible charge? Separation from evil, and a clear purpose to walk in the path of truth and holiness… But the Lord's verdict was enough for this "rest," as it has been for the true remnant in every age of the church. Anyone who cares for the honour of Christ must be satisfied with His approval.

Even in the darkest period of the Roman church's history, many dear saints of God have been inside it who knew nothing of the evil ways of the bishop of Rome and his council. The Lord Himself hints at this in His address to Thyatira… Here we find a believing remnant tied to a system marked by "the depths of Satan."

"Not knowing the depths of Satan" — that is, what they called by that name — I take to mean plain morality and separation from the world… They said that "the rest" did not know the depths of Satan, because these believers made people think that outward morality and holiness were needed in the church. So the true saints got the name of being led by Satan, and the instruments of Satan got the name of holding the word and Spirit of God.

How kind the Lord's word is to this feeble remnant! No other burden — only hold fast what they had. And what did they have? It is striking that we are told what they did not have: they "do not hold this teaching" and "have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan." This is faithfulness seen from its negative side. The Lord values even this.

Even in Thyatira there are those who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan. On them the Lord lays no other burden — that is, He leaves them where they are. Sincere, and not knowing the awful system they are in, they can walk before God with an honest heart.

In the message to this assembly we find a marked change, shown by three plain facts. First, the Lord addresses a remnant for the first time. Second, He brings in His coming for the first time. Third, He no longer looks for the hearing ear in the assembly as a whole, but in the one who overcomes. These facts prove beyond all question that in Thyatira all hope of restoring the whole body is given up.

He does not expect them to get back to the place the church fell from. He points them forward to His coming… So you must not expect Jezebel to be put right… No, your eye must rest on something else; and here the hope comes in.

In the address to this assembly we find a marked change, shown by three plain facts. First, a remnant is addressed for the first time. Second, the Lord's coming is brought in for the first time. Third, the hearing ear is no longer looked for in the assembly at large, but in the overcomer. These facts prove beyond all question that in Thyatira all hope of restoring the whole body is given up. But here the remnant is singled out and cheered — not with the hope of a converted world or a restored church, but with the bright and blessed hope of the Lord's coming.

Here, for the first time, the Lord clearly brings in His coming again. He tells them that this state of things goes on till He comes again. It is not so with the first three. With Ephesus, the only coming described is a providential coming... Here it is in Thyatira for the first time; and, what is more, He introduces it in the body of the letter before the promise... The plain meaning is that what He describes here goes on until He comes.

How compassionate the word to the feeble remnant! No other burden but to hold fast what they had. What had they? Notice what they did not have — they did not hold this teaching, and they had not learned the depths of Satan. This is faithfulness seen from its negative side. The Lord prizes even this, and in loving pity says, "I will put upon you no other burden." It is useless to try to regain what is lost. Hold fast what you have till I come. As if the Lord said, Only remember Me... His coming is now the only remedy. That does not mean we should rest quietly without bearing testimony, however feeble, against the evil. But there is no complete deliverance till He comes.

Upon such the Lord will lay no other burden — words that would imply they had heavy burdens to bear. Refusing the doctrine of Jezebel brought them into constant suffering and persecution.

Here He is putting a soul in the position of having received a deposit from Him. You have received this; now clutch it, hold it fast. My mind is not occupied with evil only — I noticed the good first — now hold it fast. What are you and I doing? Have we got the truth that has made us free?

They were not to look for any repentance or reform in this awful system. They were to hold fast to the truth they had until the Lord comes. Then they will have their reward. They refused to reign in the world while Christ is away. In the day of His glory they will rule in power over the nations.

The Lord brings in His coming as a hope, and as something to direct the mind to. "Only hold fast what you have until I come." This, I need not say, is an exhortation which applies to all times, to hold fast to what we have. Whatever we have, do not let it slip. Do not be a backslider. If you have the truth, hold it fast.

Two things make a person an overcomer in Thyatira. The first is holding fast what they had, despite the corruption of Jezebel, keeping their separation, and walking in the path of obedience to the word of God. The second is keeping Christ's works to the end. These are the works praised in verse 19: love, faith, service, patience, and works.

It is as if the Lord would leave no question about what it means to overcome this fearful system. In the gross darkness of a system that takes the Word of God from believers, the Lord does not seem to expect the overcomer to stand out for deep knowledge of His Word. But this at least He does look for: that they live in practical godliness, and so keep His works until the end.

"My works" is an unusual expression. It recalls Paul's words: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." In his daily walk the believer should be, as it were, a reproduction of Christ… There is a contrast, too, between the works of Christ and those of Jezebel. The Lord threatens judgment on those seduced by Jezebel unless they repent "of her works." He promises reward to those faithful to Christ if they keep "His works."

This promise of authority over the nations is large, grand and public. It goes beyond anything in the earlier promises to the overcomers in these messages. This is the very thing that was the goal of the corrupt Church in the Thyatiran period… What the corrupt Church seeks by her own power, Christ promises to the overcomer. That overcomer walks apart from evil and takes the place of reproach now.

What makes it all the more notable is that the rod of iron is promised to us, not the sword. We are given the dignity of reigning. We are not given the work of judgment pictured in the terrible symbols used of the Lord Himself.

There we read: "Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage… You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Clearly the Lord refers to this scripture… He is really giving the overcomer His own power, the power He received from the Father. It means being joined with Him when He comes to deal in judgment with the nations of the earth.

Remember His temptation in the wilderness. The devil showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and said, "All this authority I will give you… if you worship me, it will all be yours." But He answered, "It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." He overcame the tempter by staying faithful to Him whose will He had come to do. He refused everything from the hand of Satan and received only from the Father.

The apostle says the Church's time to rule has not come. It comes when all the saints reign together, and reign with Christ. So any claim to rule in the meantime is false by its very nature… And yet the word "rule" here shows the peculiar character of it… It is the rule of a Shepherd. The rod may be iron, a rod of unstoppable power, but in the Shepherd's hands it will always recognise that He is contending for the flock.

It is striking that the Father grants authority over the nations to Christ alone (Psalm 2). Yet the same unlimited authority and rule is promised to the conqueror who presses on until the end. The overcomers are to share the Son's public place and portion. The Father gives the nations, the peoples, and the earth to its farthest limits to His Son. The Lord uses those very words to give His overcoming people their public portion.

"Ask of Me," Jehovah says, and He has not asked; He is still sitting in patience... His long-suffering is now salvation. When that patience is over, delay would no longer be blessing or long-suffering, but weakness. Then He takes the ends of the earth for His possession with the rod of iron — not, as people imagine, with the gospel... The gospel has been going out for centuries and had no effect in converting the mass of mankind. When the Lord comes, this alliance of the nations against Him will be showing itself in full, just as the psalm describes. They will be saying more than ever, "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us."

The rod is the sign of power — "the rod of your power" (Psalm 110:2). Here it is in the shepherd's hands, and the shepherd is the very picture of royalty according to God. Even the iron rod with which Christ will smite His enemies is still represented as in a shepherd's hands. In all these passages it truly reads, "He shall shepherd them with an iron rod." However hard the blow, love guides it. How dreadful for those whom everlasting love must strike in this way!

The saints' authority over the nations is as wide as Christ's own, and it lasts the full 1000 years. The overcomer shall rule, or shepherd, the angry and rebellious nations with an iron rod. Their will shall be broken, their pride humbled, their glory laid in the dust like brittle vessels crumbling to pieces.

This wicked Jezebel not only persecuted the true saints of the Lord, but sought universal supremacy — a world-wide dominion over souls. The Lord tells them in effect to have nothing to do with her, and He will give the true power when He takes it Himself. Let them stay in the place of patience, even though there is tribulation — and there must be, if they are content to endure for Christ's sake now.

It is as if the Lord would leave no question as to what it means to overcome this dreadful system. A system like this takes the Word of God away from believers. In that thick darkness, it seems the Lord does not expect the overcomer to have a deep knowledge of His Word. But this at least He does look for: a life marked by practical godliness, keeping His works until the end.

On the one hand there is the public display of association with Christ, when the nations are shattered like a potter's clay pot. On the other hand, we receive from Him the privilege of having Him before that day of glory breaks. Then He is compared to the star that comes before the dawn.

The sun is the companion of man. But the morning star does not, in this way, call man back to his work. It appears at an hour that is entirely its own, neither day nor night. Only the child of the early morning sees it — the one who is up before the sun — or the watchman who has gone through the night.

When Christ comes as the "Sun of righteousness" it will be the day when every eye will see Him. That is His appearing, but that is not the Star. No one sees the morning star when the sun is up. But those who are watching in the night see it; it belongs to them.

But in the bright and morning star we have the heavenly character of His coming. "And I will give him the morning star" — that is, I will give the Christian Myself in this way before the day. But Christ gives Himself to the overcomer before the day. If we are to appear with Him in glory, we must first be with Him; we follow Him out of heaven after being caught up.

Christ Himself is the morning star — Christ as the pledge of the day of His glory. The morning star is the herald of the coming day. When the watcher sees it he knows that the darkness of the night will soon pass away. So how does the overcomer have it? There is only one possible answer — in his heart. It is there he holds the precious gift. So he is stronger than all the power of the enemy around him, because his heart is flooded with the light of the day for which he waits. For him the darkness of the night has passed; he lives in the sunlight of the day.

In the same way, the heavenly hope of this remnant is to have "the morning star" in the future: the One who is coming. His brilliant light will shine for ever, but the star of Thyatira has gone out.

"I will give him the morning star." It is one thing to watch for the morning star, another thing to have it. I shall not have the morning star until I enter into the thoughts of God. His thoughts are these: that this Son of His love should have a bride, that all honour must be His, and that the Father's delight is in Him.

An overcomer, we judge, is one who lives surrounded by the corruptions described as existing in the church. By the energy of the Spirit he stays faithful to the Lord in holiness of walk and conduct. On the one hand there is complete separation from the evils allowed in the church. On the other hand there is the pressing on, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to keep "the works of Christ" — in fact, to give oneself to Him as the instrument of His will.

It was the darkest age of the church's decline. That is when the hope of the Lord's return first appeared, to cheer the heart of the overcomer.

Here the notable change takes place. The call to hear begins to follow the promise, instead of being before it. The reason is that a remnant is here formed. The public state of the church now calls for the change. From that point the Lord puts the promise first. He does so because it is useless to expect the church as a whole to receive it. The address is to the overcomer, who is therefore put before the call to hear. In the three previous churches, as anyone may notice, the call to hear comes first. There the Lord is still dealing with the general conscience of the church. Now He gives that up. Only a remnant overcome, and the promise is for them. From now on the Lord takes notice of these in His call. As for the others, it is all over with their faithfulness.

The call to hear the Spirit no longer goes out to the whole Church, as it did before. It now follows the word of cheer to the remnant and the promises to the overcomer. It is therefore spoken to the overcomers. Only they could be expected to have a hearing ear that truly hears and weighs what the Spirit had to say to the churches. The Lord treats the professing body of the Church as unable to repent. He gave her space to repent, and she refused. So the Spirit appeals to the separated remnant who overcome, to hear what He says in this message to Thyatira and to the other churches also.

Then comes the general exhortation: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The verse does not say "to the church," but "to the churches." So the one who has an ear must weigh not only what the Spirit says to his own church, but what He says to all the others. The exhortation is therefore general. It speaks to all believers.

Take the last thing we have about the church of God, and what do you get there? Is it that you are to hear the church? No. It is just the opposite. It is, "hear what the Spirit says to the churches." How can I hear the Spirit judging the churches, and still listen to the churches as my authority and rule? It is all flying in the face of what God has taught us for these last days.

Paul's letters present the Spirit as living in the church and in the believers, the divine instrument of spiritual blessings. The book of Revelation does not. It sets Him outside the church, speaking to her and passing judgment on her moral state… Seven times the Spirit sends this solemn call to the hearing ear. The Lord Jesus made a similar call about the seven parables of the kingdom of heaven: "He who has ears, let him hear" (Matt. 13:9, 43)… In each message the call to hear goes with a promise to the overcomer. This call is made personally to an individual, not to the church… Yet each church also has the responsibility to listen, because the angel of the church stands for the whole church.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." That call comes seven times. It points to a direct application of these addresses to the individual hearer. It applies as well to every company of professing believers on the earth at any given time.