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The Prophetic History of Christendom

As Seen in the Seven Churches of Asia - Revelation 2 and 3

R K Campbell

Introduction

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John" (Rev.1:1). This verse shows us that the whole book of Revelation deals with things which must shortly come to pass; that is, it is of a prophetic character regarding future things. The subject of the messages to the seven churches of Asia, which shall be before us in these studies, is prophetical in character as well as historical. We have not only an historical account of conditions that existed in these seven churches at the time when the apostle John was given this vision and these messages, but a prophetical picture of the history of the professing Church, or Christendom, from the apostolic times down to the end. This will be before us in detail later.

"I John. was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks" (Rev. 1:9-12).

The Church as a Candlestick

Here in Revelation we have the church or assemblies symbolized as candlesticks or as "golden lamps" (N.Tn). "The seven candle-sticks which thou sawest are the seven churches" (Rev.1:20). This means that the Church is regarded by the Lord as a vessel of testimony bearing light in this dark world. That is what the Church and every believer should be, a light in this world. The Lord said. "Ye are the light of the world. . Let your light so shine before men" (Matt.5:14-16). This is a privilege and a responsibility and the Lord addresses the Church in its responsibility to bear light and testimony for Himself. He has something to say to each of the seven assemblies in this respect and to all of us today as well.

The Lord in the Midst of the Candlesticks

"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 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. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (Rev.1:13-16).

This is the vision that John saw of the Lord Jesus, the Son of Man, standing in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Here we have the Lord in a special character and it is important that, before we take up the subject of the addresses to the seven churches, we consider Him in this special character. As we consider this seven-fold description of the Lord which we have just read, we can readily see that it is not the Lord Jesus as the bridegroom loving His Church that is before us. He is not before us in His character as the great High Priest either. He is seen here in the long judicial robes and garments of a judge that is beholding all that is going on in His Assembly.

It is a solemn thought for us as believers to realize that we have to do with the Lord, not only as the Head of the Church, or as our beloved Bridegroom, but as our Judge to whom we must give an account. The vision of the Lord here is something like the thought expressed in James 5:9, "Behold, the judge standeth before the door." He sees all that is going on and sends a message to each of the Assemblies regarding what He beholds among them.

The Lord is seen clothed with a garment down to the feet and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. He is the Judge, and the girdle about His breast indicates a restraint of affections. He is not free to let His love go out to His Church, because there are things in it with which He is not pleased.

Seven-fold Description

In this delineation of His person that follows, we have first, His head and hairs described as being "white like wool, as white as snow." This reminds us of Daniel 7:9 where the Ancient of days is described in similar language. He is the One who is from all eternity. We have to do with the eternal One, the Ancient of days. Second, His "eyes were as a flame of fire." Fire is piercing and consuming, a figure of the holiness of God searching all things. Third, "His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." That speaks of judgment, for brass in Scripture is a figure of the righteousness of God in connection with man in judgment.

Fourth, His voice was "as the sound of many waters." This speaks of majesty and might with which the sound of many waters impresses one. Fifth, "He had in his right hand seven stars." This speaks of power, the right hand of power. He has all things in His right hand. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches" (v.20), the messengers or representatives of the churches, as we shall consider more fully later. He is the One who said before ascending to heaven, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth" (Matt.28:18). He is the One who should be looked to and depended upon, but the Church soon forgot its Lord with all power and turned to man for help.

Sixth, "Out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." This is the Word of God that judges all things. So we find that in these messages to the seven churches, He speaks, His Word judges and His eye discerns everything, even through that which outwardly seems very good, as we shall see with Ephesus, where He could commend all the wonderful things, but that holy eye could see underneath it all the root of deterioration and departure, the leaving of the first and chief love, and judge it. Oh, that we would realize more that we have to do with the Word of God, this sharp two-edged sword and that we would use it more in self-judgment.

Seventh, "His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." Here we have the thought of supreme authority, for in Gen.1:16 the sun was appointed to rule the day and the moon, the night. Thus the sun in all its power and brightness speaks of supreme majesty and authority. Such is our Lord and the One to whom His Church should ever look and heed.

"And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead" (v.17). Such was the effect upon John of viewing the Lord in this judicial character of majesty, greatness and authority. We also need to see the Lord more in this holy, judicial character in the midst of His Assembly and fall at His feet in submission and reverence. We like to think of the comforting promise of Matthew 18:20, that the Lord whom we love is in our midst to guide and minister to us when gathered to His Name. But let us not forget the holy character of the One who is in our midst, as presented here in Revelation 1:13-16. He is the Holy and the True One and of purer eyes than to behold iniquity (Hab.1:13; Rev.3:7). Thus there is a responsibility connected with having the Lord in our midst.

Then if we too fall down at His feet, as John did, we will also hear the wonderful words, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev.1:17-18). Then we shall realize His resurrection power among us.

"The Mystery of the Seven Stars"

"The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks." The seven stars and sticks of the vision were symbols of the seven churches.

But the word "mystery" would also suggest that something more than just messages to these seven literal Assemblies in Asia is involved. We have something more than just the present condition of these seven Assemblies of that day set before us in chapters two and three. We shall see that they give us a prophetical picture of seven distinct periods in the history of the whole professing Church. Thus there is a mysterious character to this whole scene of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks and the messages that follow to each Church.

Surely there were more Assemblies in Asia than these seven that are before us in Revelation one through three. Why then were just these seven picked out by the Lord and messages sent to them? We shall see that Revelation is a book of sevens, the seven churches, the seven-sealed book, seven trumpets and seven vials of wrath. Seven is a complete number, and the different conditions found in these seven particular Assemblies in Asia present a complete prophetical view of seven distinct stages of the professing Church from the time of the apostle John to its end.

We have called our subject "The Prophetic History of Christendom." We apply the term "Christendom" to all that claims to be Christian and professedly embraces Christianity. We know that much of it is false and not truly Christian or true to Christ. It is the history of this professing mass of true and false believers, which we call "Christendom," that is before us in the messages to the seven Churches of Asia in their prophetical aspect. The true Church of Christ is composed only of genuine believers who have been baptized by the Spirit into His body (See 1 Cor.12:13; Eph.1:13, 22-23).

Angels of the Churches

Let us inquire further into the meaning of the term "the angels of the seven churches." The Greek word here translated "angel" also means "a messenger" and is thus translated in other passages. So we could read "the messengers of the seven churches." The messenger would be the responsible element in the Church or Assembly, its representative before God. As another has written, the angel of the church would represent "those to whom, from nearness to Christ and communion with Him and responsibility for it, Christ looks to for the state of His Assembly." It is the symbolical representative of the assembly seen in those responsible in it, which in one sense all really are.

In Acts 20 we read of the apostle Paul calling for the elders of the Church of Ephesus and giving them a special charge, saying among other things: "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God." They were especially responsible to care for the flock among whom the Lord had set them as overseers.

So it is in the messages to the seven Churches. They are addressed to the angel of the Church, to those bearing responsibility in the Assembly and to whom the Lord looked for the state of the Assembly. They, undoubtedly, would convey to the whole company what the Lord had to say and would labour for the correction of the wrongs.

All this is full of meaning for us today as well. There are those whom the Holy Spirit has made overseers among the flock of God and whom He holds responsible for the state of His Assemblies and looks to for the spiritual condition of His people. May we answer to this privilege and responsibility.

"The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches." Stars are heavenly luminaries and would convey the thought of those who are set in the Church to give heavenly light. These stars are in His right hand. The Lord has authority over all the representatives of heavenly light; He holds in His hand all His servants and controls them.

Outline of the Seven Periods

As we have previously stated, the conditions found in the seven Churches of Asia, as set forth in Revelation 2 and 3, present a prophetical view of the condition and state of the whole professing Church at seven different periods of its history. We shall here briefly speak of these seven periods which will be before us later in detail as we take up each Church.

In the Assembly at Ephesus we have a picture of what was true of the whole Church at the time when the apostle John was given this vision and up until about 167 AD. The Church at Smyrna presents to us what was true of the whole Church during the time of the Roman persecutions which lasted till about 313 AD. In the Assembly at Pergamos we have a different condition. This describes for us the state of the professing Church after the cessation of the Roman persecutions and takes us to about 600 AD. During this time idolatry came in and the Church and the State became united and the Church began to walk with the world.

The next Church is Thyatira which sets before us the fourth period in the history of professing Christendom. The period began around 600 AD and continued to the eve of the Reformation. During this time heathenism came into the Church and the papal system of Rome fully developed.

The fifth period is given us in the state of the Assembly at Sardis which sets forth the condition of Protestantism after the Reformation of the early sixteenth century. In the Church of Philadelphia we have a prophetical picture of the revival period in the Church's history. This took place in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the first part of the nineteenth century when God worked in a wonderful way, bringing revival out of the deadness of Protestantism and a remnant returned to Christ and His Word. This is the sixth period.

The Church of the Laodiceans presents to us the seventh and last stage of the professing Church, or Christendom. This began in the nineteenth century and continues on in our present day. It is the state of luke-warmness, indifference, materialism and apos tasy which characterizes the professing Church today.

Threefold View

There are three ways in which we can consider these messages to the seven Churches of Asia. (1) We may look at them as describing what was actually true in these various Assemblies at the time they were written. This is the historical view. (2) We can consider them from the prophetical viewpoint as outlined above. (3) We may view them as applying in a practical way to any Assembly or individual at any period whose state might correspond with that depicted therein. This would be the practical view with lessons for ourselves from each Church. Thus we can see we have a very fruitful study before us in this most instructive and interesting portion of God's Word.

The Character of the Messages

In considering these messages to the Seven Churches we will find a general pattern of five characteristics running through nearly all of them.

First, the Approach of the Lord - In each message the first thing we read is the way the Lord presents Himself to the particular Church. Each presentation is different and we will do well to carefully note how He approaches or presents Himself to each Assembly, for therein is the key to the situation and also the remedy for what was wrong in the eyes of the Lord.

For instance, to Ephesus the Lord presents Himself as the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, and walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. In the beginning of the Church and during this first period of Ephesus, the Lord was known and owned as the Head of the Church, as the One who was Lord of all and had everything in His right hand. The Church looked to Him and depended on Him for everything, so the Lord could present Himself to Ephesus in this way.

Now notice in contrast the way the Lord presents Himself to Sardis in chapter 3, verse 1. There He says He has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars and knows her works, but He does not say that He has the seven stars in His right hand. The reason for this omission is that Sardis did not own Him as the Head of the Church, and this is especially true of Protestantism which Sardis represents in the prophetical view. The Church after the Reformation failed to own and recognize the Lord as its sole head and did not depend upon Him for guidance, power and protection, but looked to heads of government, etc. So the Lord presents Himself to Sardis as the One who has the seven Spirits, all power and all wisdom and guidance.

Second, the Commendation - In the communication to each Church the Lord commends what He could. If He has to criticize, censure or blame, He first of all commends all that was good, a very practical point to notice in the ways of our Lord. It would be well for us to remember this, for oftentimes we begin with the censure or criticism and forget what is commendable in one and fail to mention it. Our Lord does not do this. So often we read in these messages, "I know thy works." He knows all things and commends all that is good before speaking of that which displeases Him.

Third, the Censure or Blame for that which the Lord does not approve of. To all but two of these seven Assemblies the Lord speaks of things that He had against them or that He did not approve of. This characteristic is an important part of the messages and is full of instruction and learning for the Church at all times. The two churches not censured are Smyrna, the suffering church, and Philadelphia, the feeble remnant; both are much encouraged by the Lord.

Fourth, the Call or Promise to the Overcomer - In each message the overcomer is addressed, and special, encouraging promises are given to cheer him along amidst the difficulties and evil he is called upon to overcome. This special characteristic of these messages shows us that God looks for overcomers in every age of the Church's history and counts upon some to overcome by His power the evil conditions displeasing to Himself. To such He holds out wonderful promises of future award and blessing. These promises are a wonderful study in themselves and a source of much encouragement to saints at all times.

Fifth, the Call to the Hearing Ear - This is found in all seven communications - "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." The Lord looks for the exercised heart and the hearing ear to hear and consider what He has to say as to what pleases and displeases Him. It is the call to the individual to be exercised about what the Spirit saith unto all the seven churches, not just to one church. When the Lord was on earth He said, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark  7:16).

Divided Into Three and Four

We should notice that in the messages to the first three churches the call to the hearing ear precedes the promise to the overcomer which is the last word. Thus we have the seven messages divided into two groups of three and four, a division that is often found in the Word of God. The parables of Matthew 13 and the seven trumpets and seven vial judgments of Revelation are examples of such division.

The conditions found in the first three churches do not continue on to the end of the Church's history, whereas the conditions manifest in the last four churches do. The Ephesus period passed into the Smyrna condition of persecution when the whole Church suffered cruel oppression and sometimes death for the Lord. When the period of persecution stopped, the Smyrna condition ended and the Pergamos period of the Church and the State united began. The Church joined hands with the pagan world, and out of this condition the Thyatira state and system of Romanism emerged.

Thus the conditions described in Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamos have passed away, while that set forth in Thyatira has continued to this day and will to the end. So also has the condition of Sardis (Protestantism) continued on to this moment. And we believe that at least something of the moral conditions of Philadelphia have continued in an individual way and will till the Lord comes for His true Church. Then we have the last stage or condition of Laodicea, which goes on to the very end.

In the first three churches the call to the hearing ear is addressed to the whole Church, but in Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea the overcomer is addressed first, which means there is a remnant of true believers that overcomes. Then follows the exhortation to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. This marks out the position of the remnant in these last four churches as being separate from the general body of the church. The call to hear is especially addressed to the overcomers, for only they will hear the voice of the Lord by His Spirit.

Beginning with Thyatira there is no hope of the recovery of the whole church. The condition of apostasy is irreparable, so a remnant is recognized and the Lord's coming introduced as the only hope (Rev.2:21,24-25).

Having had before us these general observations on the messages to the seven Churches, we are now ready for a detailed study of each communication.

The Message to Ephesus

(Rev.2:1-7)

Meaning of the Name

Ephesus means "full purpose" and in the Epistle to the Ephesians, which the apostle Paul wrote to them, we have the full purposes of God as to His Church fully brought out and developed. The apostle had spent much time there and God wrought a great work in that city. The Word of God grew mightily and prevailed (Acts 19). The Assembly at Ephesus was in a wonderful spiritual condition in the days of Paul, and thus he was free to unfold to them the highest spiritual truths as to the Church and the counsels of God. We have then the full purposes of God in Ephesus . Ephesians 1:9-11 and 3:10 -11 contain the very word "purpose" and tell us something of God's purposes in Christ.

But now at the time of the revelation here given to the apostle John, some thirty-two years after the Epistle to the Ephesians had been written, the root of spiritual decline and departure had already set in among this wonderful Assembly at Ephesus . Amidst so much that was highly commendable, the divine eyes "as a flame of fire" discerned that they had left their first love. Of this we shall speak later in its proper place.

The Approach of the Lord

"These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" (Rev.2:1). He presents Himself to Ephesus as the One who has the seven stars, the angels or representatives, the responsible element in the Assemblies, in His right hand, and, as the One who walks in the midst of the Churches and beholds what manner of light and testimony their candlestick is giving forth. The Lord presents Himself here in the general character in which He presented Himself to the whole Church in chapter 1. He walks amidst the candlesticks to survey the condition of the Churches, to test their state by His Word and His infallible standard of holiness, and to judge their character as His responsible light-bearers in a dark and evil world.

The stars and candlesticks are explained to us in their symbolical meaning in chapter 1, verse 20, which we have previously considered. Stars give light and rule the course of time (Gen.1:14-18) and would represent those whom the Lord has set in the Church for giving the light of His Word, for teaching, and for government. The gift and authority for these purposes belong to Christ - the stars are in His right hand. This was known and recognized in the apostolic period when the Lord was owned as the Head of His Church. The making of rules for the government of the Church and the ordination of teachers and pastors, which has since come in, is really a usurpation, however unintentionally, of Christ's authority.

The Commendation

"I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. . But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate."

Such are the wonderful words of approval and commendation the Lord could say to the Church at Ephesus and of the whole Church of God in this first epoch of its prophetic history. There were works pleasing to Himself, labours, patience, abhorrence of evil, testing of profession in godly care, long-suffering, devotion to His Name, and perseverance in difficult labour. Wonderful features indeed were found in the Assembly at Ephesus, and in all this there is a pattern and example for the Church at all times. Oh, that such exquisite characteristics were found in Assemblies of believers today!

They not only laboured, but continued in labour and fainted not amidst difficulties and discouragements. They had endurance in labour for His name's sake. How many times we have laboured, but have grown weary in it, fainted and given up. It is a great thing to persevere in work for Christ. "Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" (Gal.6:9).

"Thou canst not bear them that are evil." Ephesus realized something of the holy character of the Lord to whom they were gathered and who was in their midst, and thus they were not careless or indifferent to evildoers. This feature should be found in us today also when the tendency is to wink at evil, let down the bars, make excuses for many things and be indifferent about that which the Lord hates. There was an abhorrence of evildoers at Ephesus, and the Lord commends them for it.

"Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." This was another commendable feature found in the Assembly at Ephesus . They tested profession and didn't take everyone at his own say-so. Some even claimed to be apostles, but they were tried and manifested as liars. They examined all who came before them as Christians. The apostle John had written, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).

This trait of godly care is missing in most of evangelical Christendom today, for in most places the Lord's supper is left open for any to partake of, who so desire, to any who say they are saved. On their own profession they are allowed this holy privilege, but that is not according to the Word of God, or the way Ephesus and the early Church did. They tried those who professed to be Christians and found out, as much as possible, those that were true and those that were false.

In the days of Nehemiah, porters were placed at the gates of Jerusalem to watch them so that the enemy would not gain entrance (Neh.7:1-3). Likewise porters are needed in the Assembly of God, who, with godly care and love, will watch and examine those who seek to be admitted to the privileges of God's house. Our concern should be that none should be brought into the Assembly who have no title or right to be there, those who are not the Lord's or whose walk and associations are not right, and that none should be kept out whom the Lord would have inside. The Lord said, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father" (Matt.7:20-21). The Scripture, "Judge not, that ye be not judged," found in the same chapter, verse 1, does not apply in this connection, but to one's inward motives. The outward life and actions are the fruits by which we are to judge Christian profession.

"Thou . hast borne, and hast patience." Patience is a wonderful virtue and a characteristic of God. The Assembly at Ephesus was characterized by it, and so should it be with believers today. We often get impatient when we are tried. They had to contend with evildoers at Ephesus, but they endured and had patience. Patience in evil is characteristic of the Lord and His dealings with man. He looks for this feature in His saints too. Ignorance of the truth of God by many also calls for patient instruction on our part. "The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Tim.2:24-25).

"Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." Here the Lord speaks of the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, and in the message to Pergamos he speaks of those among this Assembly that held the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes. What the deeds or doctrine were we are not told. Many conjectures have been made as to this, but nothing is known with real certainty from church history as to any such sect, its deeds or doctrine. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, who died around 200 AD, is the earliest Christian writer to mention the Nicolaitanes. He says: "It very clearly appears from the Apocalypse that the Nicolaitanes held fornication, and the eating of idol sacrifices, to be things indifferent, and therefore permitted to Christians."

All early writers agree on the main features of Nicolaitanism as being of an impure and licentious character, combining the profession of Christianity with the impurities of Paganism, "turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness" as Jude warned (v.4). In the 18th and 19th century other ideas as to this sect were brought forth. Some scholars conjectured that the Nicolaitanes were of similar character with the followers of the way of Balaam (2 Peter  2:15 ), and that "Nicolaitanes" is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew "Balaam," both signifying "conquerors or masters of the people." In Rev.2:14-15, the doctrine of Balaam and that of the Nicolaitanes are spoken of together, yet distinguished.

Others confining themselves to the meaning of the name have pointed out that "Nicolaitanes" comes from "nikao," meaning "to conquer", and from " laos," "the people," or "laity." Thus the term would refer to the development of a class, which we know as "the clergy", rising up in the Church above the laity and ruling over them.

There is ample evidence in church history that the system of the clergy, as separate from the laity, sprang up early in the Church. The common priesthood of all believers, as taught in Scripture (1 Peter 2:5,9), was soon set aside, also the presence of the Holy Spirit and His free ministry in the Church, and the unscriptural distinction between clergy and laity fast became a regular thing. Thus the belief so prominent through the centuries that only a certain class, humanly ordained, have the exclusive right to preach and teach and administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper in the Church.

Ignatius, a disciple and friend of the apostle John, who survived him only by about seven years and was Bishop of Antioch, metropolis of Syria, wrote seven epistles on his journey to martyrdom, around AD 107. Therein he stressed submission to the bishop, and "to look upon the bishop even as we do upon the Lord Himself." Another sentence from his letters shows how a clerical system, not found in Scripture, had already formed in the Church at this early date: "I cried whilst I was among you; I spake with a loud voice, 'attend to the bishop, and to the presbytery, and to the deacons.'" (See Miller's Church History, Vol.1, pages 150-157). (It may be of interest to know that the Episcopal form of church government is based on Ignatius' writings.)

Believing the subject of Nicolaitanism to be of vital importance, the writer has searched into this matter and taken some space to give the two main views of Bible scholars thereon. It may well be that both views are embraced by the term Nicolaitanes in a literal and symbolical sense. The writer is convinced that the system of the clergy, which certainly began in this Ephesus period, is referred to by this symbolical term, though not necessarily limiting it to this.

What is most important to notice is that the Lord commended Ephesus for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitanes which He also hated. He speaks of this after the necessary censure and warning of verses 4 and 5, which is the more touching as an added appreciation of His wounded heart. We are to hate what the Lord hates, not the persons, but the deeds. The Psalmist could say he hated "every false way," "vain thoughts," and "lying" (Ps.119:104,113,163). Everything not according to Holy Scripture is a false way, vain, a lie and to be hated, even though it may boast of antiquity as from the church fathers.

The Censure

"Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Rev.2:4). Here we have the reproof and censure of the Lord against the Assembly at Ephesus . This is the third characteristic of these messages to the churches. In spite of all that was so commendable in Ephesus, which we have previously noted, the Lord has to say, "but I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love." So the more correct rendering of the New Translation reads. The word "somewhat" in our King James Version is in italics, showing that it was supplied by the translators and is not in the original manuscripts. It weakens the force of the Lord's reproof and should be left out.

"Thou hast left thy first love." This is what the Lord had against Ephesus . What does this say to us? It tells us that, though the Lord appreciates all the wonderful features of works, labours, patience, abhorrence of evil, etc., which were found in the Assembly at Ephesus, He looks for that first love in our hearts. He wants the best love which springs from a heart fully enamoured and taken up with Himself as its object.

The word "first" here is the same word in the original as that which is translated "best" in Luke 15:22, "the best robe." So it is our best or chief love which the Lord desires. It is not first love as to point of time, as when first converted, though the love of the newborn convert is very wonderful and fresh, but first in quality. He wants our best and chief love and will not be satisfied with anything else.

So, if we have ever loved the Lord better than we do today, this word of censure and blame; "thou hast left thy first love," is directed to us also. The Lord says to us, "I do not have the same place in your heart which I once had; that place I desire again." He is a jealous God (Ex.20:5) and wants our whole heart, our chief love in all its freshness.

As another has well said, "The first love is that absorption of heart with Christ which is ever produced by an overwhelming sense of His grace and love in redemption" ( E. Dennett ). It is the result of coming under the powerful and personal influence of His love, that character of love which His love gives impulse to. As His love fills and floods our souls, a responding love will be produced in our hearts, the best love He is looking for. Thus the exhortation in Jude twenty-one is, "Keep yourselves in the love of God."

In his Epistle to the Assembly at Thessalonica, written to those newly converted, the apostle speaks of their "work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess.1:3). There was faith, love and hope. In Ephesus there were works, but they are not called the "work of faith." There was labour, but it is not called "labour of love"; there was patience, but it is not spoken of as the "patience of hope." Christ was ever before the Thessalonians and thus faith, love and hope were all connected with Himself. Some of this was still left at Ephesus, but it was ebbing. The first love for Christ, as the spring from which all must flow, was missing. His discerning eyes detected it and this was charged against them.

Work for the Lord is necessary; there is much to be done for Him and the Lord is looking for servants, but our service must spring from love to Himself. Self and rivalry with others may enter into our service. Then love for the Lord is not the spring of our labours and they do not have the same value to the Lord as when done out of love to Him.

It should be noted that the Lord does not say they had lost their first love, but that they had "left" it. Something lost may never be found again, but anything left somewhere can be obtained again, generally speaking. So we can go back to the place in our soul's experience where we may have left our best love and return to it again by self-judgment This is encouraging, is it not?

The Call to Remembrance and Repentance

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works" (Rev.2:5). The Lord calls Ephesus to remember the place where they once were in the enjoyment of first love and to repent about their fall from it and to return to those first works of that best and chief love. The Lord would have us realize that leaving our first love is the root of all departure and decline. From that condition of heart flow all backsliding, sins and apostasy. The downward movement and apostasy of Christendom, as set forth in the prophetic history of these seven Churches of Asia in Revelation 2 and 3, begins with leaving the first love in Ephesus and goes on to the awful evils found in the following churches.

This is a solemn and searching word for our hearts. If we leave our chief love and do not repent or return, other things will come in and the departure from the Lord will increase. When first love is departed from, many wrong things come in among the saints of God, all because the Lord does not have the chief place in our hearts. But when we return that first and chief place to Him, everything else will fall into its proper place: service, worship, separation from the world, all will follow, but only as we return to the Lord in repentance and first love.

This word of censure and call to remembrance and repentance, spoken to Ephesus, is very applicable and needful to as today as well. And it is the word of the Lord to His people today as well as to the Assembly at Ephesus in the first century. First love has been left; we have fallen and need to repent and return to the Lord. Surely the Spirit of God would lead us in these last days to realize that what we need individually and collectively is to give the Lord the first and chief place in our hearts and thus return to the first love. May there be genuine repentance, a change of mind, thoughts and of heart about ourselves, and a doing of the first works that flow from the best love for Christ.

The Warning

Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Rev.2:5). What a solemn warning to an Assembly where there was so much good. Just one vital thing was wrong, but the Lord says, as it were, "If you don't repent, I will remove your candlestick," meaning that the Church would be given up as a light, or vessel of testimony in the world. If Ephesus did not recover her first love, she would be refused as the Lord's witness and testimony. Her light would be removed because she could no longer be regarded as bearing a true testimony for the Lord.

When we come to Laodicea, the seventh church, we find that the Lord says to her, "Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spue thee out of My mouth" (Rev.3:16, N.Tn). This is the final condition of the professing Church, and the Lord is about to give it all up and spue it out as something nauseating and undesirable. Then the candlestick of the Church will be fully removed because she is a faithless and untrue witness that the Lord cannot own as His. In the very beginning of decline in Ephesus, in the first period of the whole Church, the Lord warns the Assembly that He would remove its candlestick unless it repented. We will later see that there was a measure of recovery in the next period of Smyrna and the candlestick was preserved.

Speaking of individual Assemblies, it is a sad day for any Assembly when it comes to that place where it no longer is a testimony or light in the world and the candlestick is removed by the Lord. One sees Assemblies where the light has been so faint and flickering for years, faithful believers finish their course and pass on, new converts are not added and the company decreases and finally there is no Assembly left - the candlestick is completely removed. The root cause is because first love was left long before. May we heed the warning lesson!

The Call to the Hearing Ear

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev.2:7). This is the fourth feature of these messages. The individual who has an ear to hear is appealed to to listen and to heed what the Spirit says unto the churches. It is a voice to the individual, and the one who has an exercised heart to hear is to hear what the Spirit has to say.

In Matthew thirteen the Lord concluded the parable of the sower with the words, "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (v.9). He also spoke of some who "seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (v.13). The Lord looks for those who have opened ears and hearts to hear and consider what the Spirit has to say to the churches. Such will, in communion with the mind of Christ, judge their state by the light of the written Word. This appeal would indicate that every believer is here made responsible to understand the state of things around him in the professing Church. The whole Assembly is addressed by this call to hear, but only the exercised individual with an opened ear will respond to it.

Promise to the Overcomer

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Rev.2:7). This is the fifth characteristic of these messages. The overcomer is always addressed, and here the cheering prom ise of eating of the tree of life is given to the overcomer in Ephesus . Adam lost the right to eat of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden when he sinned and was driven out of it. The overcomer here is promised the tree of life in the paradise of God which will never be lost. It is Christ Himself that the overcomer will feed upon and enjoy forever. In this way the Lord seeks to encourage believers to overcome. This blessed promise would cheer their hearts and sustain them in their conflict as they sought to overcome that which the Lord pointed out as displeasing to Himself. It is only the overcomer that has this promise of the tree of life for present comfort and encouragement in the sphere of responsibility and conflict.

Overcoming here is overcoming the evil specified in the Assembly. What the Lord deplored in Ephesus was the loss of their first love. Whoever, by grace and the Spirit's power working in the opened ear and heart, regained the condition of first love, would be an overcomer in the sense of this Scripture and be entitled to the special promise here given. May we all desire and endeavour to be overcomers and return to the conditions of the first and best love to our worthy Lord and Saviour.

The Message to Smyrna

(Rev.2:8-11)

"And unto the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer" (Rev.1:8-10).

The word " Smyrna " means "myrrh", which is an aromatic gum that exudes from a shrub which has to be crushed in order to emit the full, sweet fragrance. So the Church of the Ephesus period had to be crushed to be brought back to the first love. In Smyrna we come to the second period in the prophetic history of Christendom. Here we find the Church crushed in the fiery trials of persecution and martyrdom and fragrant incense rising up to God therefrom. Myrrh was used in burials, and in the death of these martyrs in Smyrna sweet incense of myrrh went up to God. Smyrna is the suffering church.

When the Lord first spoke of His Church in Matthew 16:18, He said, "Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell (Hades) shall not prevail against it." Satan hated Christ, the rock, and he has ever hated the true representation of Christ in the world, so the gates of hades were unleashed and opened against His Church in the awful persecutions of the Romans against the Christians. This period was from about 167 AD to around 313 AD, when the persecution stopped. There was a double assault upon the Church during this time. From without it was oppressed and persecuted by pagan Rome ; from within it was attacked by the blasphemy of those who said they were Jews, but were of the synagogue of Satan. This we shall consider in detail later.

God allowed Satan's persecution of His Church and used it to arrest the decline which had started in the Ephesus period. His love for His people allowed Satan to stir them up by persecution so that He might accomplish the purification and restoration of His saints and that the light of the Church might shine brighter. The afflictions and fiery trials they passed through brought out wonderful faithfulness to the Lord. Thus the testimony of the Church shone bright and the candlestick, that was in danger of being removed in Ephesus, was preserved. Satan's object was to destroy the testimony of the Lord, but God wrought in blessing and used His efforts to awaken and brighten His Church. So God ever overrules Satan's efforts and brings about greater blessings.

We will find a similarity in the seven parables of the kingdom of heaven, which the Lord spoke of in Matthew thirteen, and in these messages to the seven Churches of Asia. In the first parable we have the activity of the sower sowing the good seed. This corresponds to the Ephesus period when there was much labour for the Lord. In the second parable we see the enemy active sowing tares or darnel, a poisonous kind of rye. This corresponds to the Smyrna period of the Church when the enemy, Satan, was especially active in persecution and in corrupting the pure Gospel of God's grace. As we continue our studies of the seven Churches we will make further comparisons with the parables of Matthew thirteen.

The Approach of the Lord

To Smyrna the Lord presents Himself as "the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive," and as the One who knew their works, tribulation, poverty and the blasphemy of those of the synagogue of Satan. As in each Church, the character in which the Lord presents Himself is always suitable to the conditions, circumstances and state in which the particular Assembly is found, so this approach of the Lord to Smyrna is so in keeping with the need of this Assembly. What a comfort to those facing martyrdom for the cause of Christ, persecuted unto death under ten consecutive Roman rulers, to have their hearts thus directed to the One who was the first and the last and the One who had gone down into death and was alive for evermore.

The Lord in presenting Himself thus to Smyrna would draw their hearts away from their afflictions and sufferings and occupy them with Himself, the all-sufficient One. We need not fear death, the wrath of man, or the power of Satan when our eye is upon the One who has met all the power of the enemy, even the last enemy, death itself, and we see Him who is alive for evermore, the eternal One.

Undoubtedly these words of the Lord were a real cheer and comfort to His people going through this time of awful persecution. And they are for the comfort and encouragement of saints of God at all times. For even in our day, many of God's people have been called upon in various countries to lay down their lives for Christ. Our blessed Lord took part of flesh and blood that "through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage" (Heb.2:14-16). He has met the whole power of the enemy and overthrown him and would have His people trusting in Himself who can say, "Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell (hades) and of death" (Rev.1:17-18).

Thus the Lord encourages His saints not to fear Satan, who once had the power of death, but to look to Himself who died to deliver them from its fear and bondage. We would also think of His words in Luke 12:4-5: "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But . Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell." Satan was seeking to terrify the believers in the time of Smyrna and sought to use the fear of death to turn aside the Assembly from faithfulness to Christ. To meet this effort of Satan, the Lord called the attention of His people to Himself as the One who had risen out of death and was alive for evermore.

The Lord's Commendation and Encouragement

"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich)" (Rev.2:9). Thus the Lord in wonderful grace encourages and commends this tried Church. Their works were wrought in the fiery furnace of affliction and trial and pleased Him. Their tribu lation and poverty was great, but the Lord comfortingly says, as it were, "I know your works of faith and your sufferings and poverty." He beheld it all as He had beheld His disciples of old toiling in rowing amid contrary winds, and came to them, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt.14:23-27). Thus these tried saints were sustained by the Lord's love and His knowing their tribulation and poverty.

The poverty of God's saints was indeed great in this Smyrna period. They were regarded as enemies of their neighbours and of the State, and their enemies surrounded them like a pack of hungry wolves ready to devour them. They had to flee to the underground catacombs where they lived in darkness. At night some of the strong and brave ones would venture out for food. Some of these and many others of the Christians were captured and thrown to the hungry lions before thousands of spectators. Others were wrapped in cloths soaked in oil, hung up on poles, and lit as torches to light the arena for the Roman games. What poverty in earthly things! But the Lord said they were rich.

Hebrews 11:35-39 describes the sufferings of men and women of faith of old, who did not accept deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. They were stoned, slain with the sword, wandered about, were destitute, afflicted and tormented. They wandered in deserts, in mountains, dens and caves of the earth. These things were also true of the Christians during this period of the Church we are considering. They did not accept deliverance, which was offered them if they would renounce Christ, but their faith triumphed in death and they await the full victory in resurrection. "Of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb.11:38); such is God's estimate of all such faithful martyrs.

Though the material poverty of Smyrna was great, the Lord in commendation says, "but thou art rich." In His estimation they were rich in good works, rich in faith, rich in God. James 2:5 says, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?" And in 1 Timothy  6:18 there is the exhortation to be "rich in good works."

Smyrna stands in contrast with Laodicea, the Church of the present period. To her the Lord says, "thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Rev.3:17). The professing Church of today can boast of great earthly riches, but what spiritual poverty the Lord sees. Perhaps it is true of us as believers also; we may proudly point to much material goods, but how much spiritual riches are we in possession of?

The Church always prospers more spiritually in times of persecution and distress than it does in times of prosperity. When every thing goes well, God's people are often lulled to sleep, they become careless and indifferent and drift away from the Lord. When wealth, fame and positions of honour are obtained in the world, the Christian is in danger and spirituality tends to decrease. When Christians are poor and little thought of in the world there is not such danger spiritually. The trials and persecutions cast one more upon the Lord and reveal the true character of the world.

"Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev.2:10). Thus the Lord further encouraged the Church of Smyrna to be faithful to Him unto death and not to fear the things the devil would cause them to suffer. Christ was allowing Satan to persecute them for a limited time, figuratively, ten days. He was allowing it for their spiritual and eternal good. How good to know that our God is over everything, over all the devices, power and purposes of the enemy, and that only what He allows falls upon us, and only as long as He allows it.

The prophetic, stipulated ten days of tribulation were fulfilled in the ten different edicts of persecution against the Christians under ten Roman Emperors, beginning with Nero and ending with Diocletian. The last persecution of ten years duration was the most violent of all as the enemy sought to uproot and wipe out Christianity. But under the Emperor Constantine the persecution ceased entirely around 313 AD.

"Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." The Lord holds out to the martyr that which is beyond this life and death, the crown of life. This is one of five crowns spoken of in Scripture as encouragements for the faithful. The crown of life is for those willing to lay down their lives for the Lord. Another has beautifully written the following as to this crown:

"The crown of life - life in its full fruition, crowned, as it were, with His own special approbation; life, eternal life, disencumbered from all entanglements, feasting to the full on its own proper objects, and displayed in all its perfections in its own proper sphere in the Lord's own presence in that special place in glory, which the Lord in His grace may award to those who are faithful unto death. This is the crown of life" (Edward Dennett).

As a practical consideration for ourselves on this subject, we might well ask, How much does the Lord mean to us? Does our faith in Christ mean more to us than life itself? The apostle Paul said, "neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy" (Acts  20:24 ). Life is very dear to the natural man, but the Lord should mean more to us than life itself. May we seek grace to be faithful unto the Lord, even unto death, as the saints in Smyrna were in days of old.

The reader will notice that the Lord does not have any censure or blame for the Assembly at Smyrna . In their sufferings and tribulation He only encourages and commends them.

In our next study we will consider those whom the Lord speaks of as "the synagogue of Satan," and the call to the hearing ear and the promise to the overcomer.

The Double Assault

There was a double assault of the enemy against Smyrna . Besides the persecutions of the heathen enemy from without, which we considered in our previous study, there was an effort and attack of Satan from within. So the Lord says, "I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan" (Rev.2:9). These who claimed to be Jews (the term is used symbolically) were impiously railing against the true Church and causing them to suffer thus.

There are two diverse ways in which Satan works. The apostle Peter tells us that "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). A lion is bold and powerful, pouncing on his prey with all his force and fury. That would represent Satan as a persecutor of God's people. In this character he was behind the persecutions of the pagan emperors and sought to crush and devour the Church of Christ .

The apostle Paul informs us of another way in which Satan carries out his work. In speaking of false apostles, deceitful workers, who transform themselves into the apostles of Christ, he writes, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor.11:13-14). Satan often works in this character, through his workers; as an angel of light, pretending to have the light of God, quoting the Scriptures, but corrupting the Word of God and deceitfully handling it (2 Cor.2:17; 4:2), with the pur pose of deceiving and perverting the truth of God.

The Assault From Within

The attack of the enemy from within in this Smyrna period was in the character of an angel of light and deceitful workers. There was the activity of those who assumed a religious form, those who pretended to have the legitimate, hereditary claims of being God's people, Jews.

They railed against the Christians and slandered the Assembly. In this way the true believers in Smyrna suffered from the blasphemy, hatred and ridicule of these religious people who corrupted the pure Gospel of the grace of God. This was a trial by false claimants within the professing Church whom the Lord strongly labels as "the synagogue of Satan."

Since these false claimants called themselves Jews, it will be helpful to us if we refer to Romans 2:28-29 which gives us the marks of a true spiritual Jew. "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." These spiritual characteristics were not found among these pretenders, so the Lord says they were not Jews at all.

In comforting assurance to these afflicted believers, suffering from this double assault of Satan, the Lord says, "I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not," I know your sorrows and trials. What a comfort for the Lord's people at all times to hear His, "I know"! He knows, He feels and sympathizes with His suffering and tried people and will deliver in His own time.

The Synagogue of Satan

The Lord says that those who were blaspheming against the true Church in this Smyrna period were the "synagogue of Satan." This is strong language and we need to inquire more fully as to the char acter of this group and the significance of this term.

In these messages to the seven Churches of Asia we can observe the development of the evil which has come into the professing Church. When we behold what characterizes Christendom today, we see much that was not found in the Church of the apostle's day, as recorded in Scripture, and we wonder how this came about. In the prophetic history of Christendom, which is before us in these communications to the seven Churches, we can trace out the origin and development of these evil things and unscriptural principles found in present Christendom. We have already seen in the Ephesus period the rise of Nicolaitanism, that unscriptural system of dividing the Church into the two classes of clergy and laity. Now in Smyrna we have that which is called the "synagogue of Satan."

These who said they were Jews were claiming to be the real people of God, the inheritors of the spiritual privileges of ancient Israel . They were insisting on Jewish principles and sought to put the Gentile believers under the law and on the same ground as Israel of old under the covenant of the law of Sinai. They were active already in the days of the apostles who had to contend with these Judaizing teachers.

In Acts 15 we read about men who came down from Judæa and taught the Gentile believers at Antioch that except they were circumcised after the manner of Moses they could not be saved (v.1). Paul and Barnabas dissented and disputed with them over this. At Jerusalem some spoke up in the Church and said that it was needful to circumcise the Gentile converts and command them to keep the law of Moses. Peter replied that this was putting a yoke upon the disciples "which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear, but we believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they" (v.5,9,10).

In the epistle to the Galatians the apostle Paul contended strongly against those who were preaching another Gospel than that of the grace of God which he had received from Christ and preached. "There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Gal.1:7-8). It was these Judaizing teachers of the law who were likewise troubling the Galatian saints and perverting the Gospel. To add one single thing to the Gospel of Christ's death for our sins, His burial and resurrection for our justification, as that which is necessary for salvation, is to pervert the Gospel.

Satan was thus at work in the very early days of the Church seeking to distort and corrupt the pure Gospel of the grace of God. This effort of the adversary continued against the Church and the Gospel, and now it had become a systematized thing in the time of Smyrna as these teachers sought to bring Judaism into the Assembly of God and mixed law with grace, and blasphemed against the faithful believers. A party of highest pretentions was now formed and they were the corrupters of the Gospel, the destroyers of living Christianity and deceived by Satan. The Lord pungently calls them the "synagogue of Satan," for that is what they were morally, as led on, gathered together and energized by Satan for his evil purposes.

The Patristic party, commonly called "The Fathers," were the leaders in this evil of systematically Judaizing the Church. This evil work had already gained a foothold in the professing Church in this Smyrna period, and today we find Christendom permeated with Judaism, or Judaistic principles, mixed up with true Christianity, law and grace mingled and the Gospel of the grace of God perverted and corrupted thereby.

Contrast of Christianity With Judaism

The Church of the living God is not a continuation of Judaism which was established by God in the Old Testament; therefore its principles cannot be carried over into the Church or adapted in any form. The Church is in greatest contrast with Judaism.

Israel, or Judaism, was an earthly body, a company on earth, a nation with earthly hopes. There was a special class of priests, the inner sanctuary where the priests alone could come, and the people worshipped afar off. There were continual sacrifices for sin and a veil that shut the worshipper out from the presence of God. The congregation was composed of a mixed company of those who had true faith and those who did not, be lievers and unbelievers mingled together on a national basis, and seeking to keep the law as a ground of acceptance before God. The term "synagogue" means "a gathering together," and that was the principle of Judaism, a mixed people gathered together with nationalistic hopes on earth.

The Church, or Assembly of God, is in vivid contrast to all the foregoing characteristics of Judaism. It begins with the foundation of the cross of Christ, a complete and finished work for sin, the resurrection and ascension of Christ into heaven for us, the descent of the Holy Spirit, Who has formed the One Body of believers and indwells and unites them to the risen, glorified Head in heaven. The veil is rent and all genuine believers in Christ are priests and are privileged to draw nigh to God into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus (Heb.10:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5). As united to Christ in glory, the, Church is called to be a heavenly people and given the heavenly hope of being with the Lord in His glory. Its hopes and blessings are not earthly at all as Israel 's are.

The word translated "church" in our King James Bible is "ecclesia" and means "a called out assembly." It signifies a people called out of the world to be true to their rejected Lord, and who are joined to Him in the glory and are waiting for His return. The true Church is not a mere gathering together of a mixed company of converted believers and unconverted or natural men, as in the Jewish synagogue. Thus we see that there is the greatest difference between the Assembly of God; the Church, and Judaism with its temple and synagogues.

Christendom Characterized by Judaism

Today we find that the professing Church has lost most of the characteristic features which should distinguish her from Judaism, and that for the most part Christendom is characterized by the principles of Judaism. It has become a mere synagogue, a gathering together of a mixed company of believers and unbelievers, seeking to keep the law of commandments for salvation or as a rule of life. It has settled down on earth and does not look for the Lord to return. It has become a camp like Judaism of old, though wearing the cloak of outward Christianity. The revival of Judaism and the bringing of its principles into the professing Church has destroyed the true character of Christianity, and this system and state of things is morally that which the Lord called the "synagogue of Satan," in Smyrna .

Thus the call to the believers of old to leave the camp of Judaism and go forth unto the rejected Christ is applicable to Christians today. "Let us go forth therefore unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach" (Heb.13:13). The earnest believer, who would honour Christ and keep His Word, must go forth unto Christ alone and separate from the camp of Christendom with its Judaistic principles.

The Call to the Hearing Ear

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev.2:11). Here, as in each of the messages to these Assemblies in Asia, the Lord calls for the hearing ear to hearken to what the Spirit has to say to the Churches. The individual is made responsible to hear and to yield obedience to the message of the Spirit. We are to hear the words of comfort, encouragement, promise of future reward, and the exhortation to be faithful unto death.

The Promise to the Overcomer

"He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death" (Rev.2:11). Such was the encouraging promise to each believer who would overcome the fear of physical death in faithfulness to Christ, and the temptation to deny Him and live on earth. It was also for the one who would overcome the blasphemy and ridicule of those of the synagogue of Satan, the perverters of the Gospel.

The second death, which should not touch the overcomer according to the promise here, is spoken of in Revelation 20:11-14. There the great white throne judgment scene is described when the unsaved dead will be raised and God will deal with the resurrected body and the soul and spirit of those whose names are not found written in the book of life. "And death and hell (hades) delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death."

Death is the place of the body in the grave and hades is the temporary abode of the departed souls and spirits. At the time of the great white throne judgment, the graves will give up the bodies and hades will give up the souls and spirits of those who had no part in the previous first resurrection, spoken of in Revelation 20:5-8. Then the complete person, body, soul and spirit, of all these resurrected dead will be cast into the lake of fire forever. This is the second death of eternal separation from God, the awful, everlasting portion of all who die outside of Christ the Saviour.

Though many of the Christians in this Smyrna period were killed because of their faith in Christ and thus experienced physical death, they became overcomers and were given the blessed assurance of immunity from this second death of eternal judgment. Blessed and comforting hope for them and for believers at all times.

 

The Message to Pergamos

(Rev.2:12-17)

"And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith He which hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is" (Rev.2:12-13).

The name Pergamos means "much marriage." Paul wrote to the Corinthian Assembly that he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy, for he had espoused or betrothed them to one husband, that he might present them as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor.11:2). The true Church is engaged to Christ and will be married to Him, its Lover and Bridegroom, following His coming for His bride. But this blessed espousal and marriage was quite forgotten during this third period in the history of the professing Church, which is prophetically before us in Pergamos. It was indeed a time of "much marriage," for while professing to be true to Christ, the Church became united and married to the world, and that the heathen, Pagan world.

The Changed Conditions

In Pergamos we have quite a different state of things from that of the previous period given in Smyrna . There the Church was relentlessly persecuted by ten Roman emperors for over one hundred years. But now with the victory of Constantine over Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, the persecution against the Christians ceased. Constantine claimed to have had a vision of a flaming cross with the inscription, "By this conquer." He then adopted the sign of the cross as the imperial standard of his armies and declared himself a convert to Christianity, though he was never baptized until near the end of his life.

He was victorious in battle and a public edict in favour of the Christians was issued in 313. Constantine soon saw the superiority of Christianity and that the Christians were better citizens, etc., so he issued an edict against Paganism in 324. Christians were given posts of honour and bishops of the Church sat on thrones with the nobles of the empire. Constantine took his place, now more openly to the whole world as head of the Church; but at the same time retained the office of the Pontifex Maximus - the high priest of the heathen. This he never gave up.

Thus the Church and State became allied. The Church and the world joined hands in an unholy marriage. Allegiance to Christ and His Word was sacrificed, and the Lord had to say Pergamos was dwelling where Satan's seat was. History records the accounts of gorgeous heathen temples and the vestments of its priests consecrated for Christian service. In order to reconcile the priests and the people of heathenism to the new order of Christianity, many Pagan rites and ceremonies were adopted by the Church. Heathen festivals were changed into Christian days, a notable example being so-called "Christmas."

December 24 or 25 was observed among all Pagan nations in honour of the birth of the son of the "Queen of heaven." No such festival as Christmas was ever heard of in the Christian Church until the fourth century. It was then in the time of Constantine that December 25, the Pagan holiday, was adopted by the Church, and called "Christmas" and made the birthday of Christ. (See "The Two Babylons" by Alex Hislop.)

In this way the Pagans and the Christians were united in an unholy alliance and Pagan corruption with a Christian name attached to it. In Pergamos Satan is within the Church as a deceiving serpent and seducer. He could not crush the Church by persecution, but he now succeeds within by corrupting it.

The Presentation of the Lord

To this Assembly at Pergamos, and to the professing church of this third prophetical period, the Lord presents Himself as the One who has "the sharp sword with two edges" and as the One who knows their works and where they were dwelling, how they had settled down into Satan's throne in compromise and indifference to His glory and holiness. As previously remarked in these studies, the approach of the Lord to each Assembly is always in keeping with the condition He finds, and therein is the key to the situation and the remedy for what is wrong.

The sharp sword with two edges is the Word of God (Heb.4:12). Revelation  18:15 tells us that when the Lord comes in judgment He will smite the nations with a sharp sword that goes out of His mouth. In addressing Pergamos as the One who has the sharp sword with two edges, the Lord is warning the Assembly that He is about to search into and declare her true spiritual condition and judge her state by the Word, which is sharper than a two-edged sword.

Because His holy Word was no longer the standard of judgment in the Assembly, He comes with the sword to prove that the Word never lost its power in His hands. If Pergamos had been under the action and power of the Word of God, they would not have compromised and come under the power of the seducer, Satan, and fallen to where his throne was. The Word of God is the detective power of God to deal with evil; it is "a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" and reveals everything. The Assembly of Pergamos had failed to use the sword of the Word; it had not tried those who said they were apostles and were not, as Ephesus had done, and was commended of the Lord for it. Therefore its condition was very serious and evil. Paganism had now become mingled with Christianity, as well as Judaism, which we saw coming in the Smyrna period.

This is a practical word for the Church of Christ at all times. The Word of God is the sharp sword which we must depend upon and use against the enemy and his wiles. If we cling to His Word and abide by it, we will be preserved from the evil of Satan's world. It is by the neglect of God's Word and indifference to its precepts that the Church falls into seductions and snares of its arch-enemy and becomes corrupted as Pergamos was. The Psalmist could say, "By the Word of Thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer" (Ps. 17:4). So we are exhorted to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," and to take "the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Eph.6:11,17). The remedy for every wrong and evil condition is the Word of God and its use in the power of the Spirit.

The Lord further says to Pergamos, "I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat (throne - N.Tn) is". Pergamos was the capital of the Roman province of Asia at this time and was famous for its Pagan rites and ceremonies. From this centre heathenism reigned and idolatry spread all over Asia . The persecutions against the Church had issued from Pergamos. Now in this Pergamos period of the Church it was dwelling where Satan's throne was.

Satan is now "the god of this world" (2 Cor.4:4); therefore the world is the place of his throne. The force of the Lord's words, then, is that the Church of the time of Pergamos was dwelling in the world of Paganism; Judaism and Christianity had united under Satan's seductions. The Church had thus forgotten her heavenly calling and her heavenly character and had settled down in the world where its Saviour and Lord was rejected and cast out. The professing Church and the world had joined hands and enjoyed themselves together.

The result of this unholy alliance was, as another has said, "the world has become a little churchy, but the Church has become immensely worldly." If this was true in the Pergamos epoch of the professing Church, alas, how definitely the Church of this present, age is characterized by union with this present evil world system. May the Lord's presentation to Pergamos with the sharp sword, and His words as to where it was dwelling, speak to our hearts and consciences with "the sword of the Spirit; which is the Word of God" (Eph.6:17). The remedy for every wrong and evil condition is the Word of God and its delivering power of the Spirit.

The Lord's Commendation

"Thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth" (Rev.2:13). In spite of the declension in Pergamos and their settling down in the world and dwelling where Satan's throne was, there was still that which the Lord could commend. They held fast to His Name and had not denied the faith. This was especially true during the great Arian controversy that took place in the fourth century.

Arius held that Christ was the first and noblest of all created beings which God had made and thus denied Christ's Godhead and deity. The council of Nice, Bithynia was called in June, 325, by Constantine to consider this grave error. 318 bishops and a large number of priests and deacons were present. Many bore the marks of suffering from the former persecutions. Constantine acted as moderator and the doctrine of the trinity and the true Godhead of Christ was maintained by this council.

We may observe in passing that this serious and erroneous teaching as to the Person of Christ which Arius promulgated early in the Church's history, and was defeated at the council of Nice, is actively being propagated today by so-called "Jehovah's Witnesses." It is an old lie of Satan to rob Christ of His glory as the Creator and Son of God and should be vigorously resisted, as it was in the Pergamos period when the commendation of the Lord, of holding fast to His Name and not denying the faith, was given.

The name "Antipas," whom the Lord speaks of as "my faithful martyr, who was slain among you," means "against all." Nothing else certain is known of him, but he apparently stood alone for the Lord and suffered martyrdom for Christ. This name, it would seem, stands for the individual faithfulness of many during this time of general declension and activity of Satan as the seducer.

Athanasius, who became the bishop of Alexandria and was greatly used of God in preserving the Church from the Arian heresy, is a notable example of one standing against all, as the name of "Antipas" indicates. He disregarded the imperial edict of Constantine, who changed his mind two years after the Council of Nice as to Arianism and commanded that Arius and his friends be received into the Church. Athanasius endured persecution, calumny, exile and frequently endangered his life in defence of the great fundamental truth of the Godhead of Christ. Many years after the council of Nice, when the Arian party was gaining influence, Athanasius was summoned before the Arian emperor who demanded that he cease his opposition to the teaching of Arius and receive Arians. When Athanasius refused, the emperor reproved him bitterly and said, "Do you not realize that all the world is against you?" The champion of the truth answered, "Then I am against all the world." He was a true Antipas and a noble example for believers at all times. Thus the faith of God, the revelation of Himself in Christ the Son, was maintained amidst much evil and the Lord noticed it all and commends it.

The Censure

"But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate" (Rev.2:14-15).

We read about Balaam in Numbers 22-25; 31:16; 2 Peter  2:15 -16 and Jude 11. There we learn that he was a hireling prophet that hired out to Balak, king of the Moabites, to curse the children of Israel because he loved the wages of unrighteousness. Failing in this, he gave counsel to seduce Israel into uniting with the Midianites and the Moabites and brought about the evil of Israel joining themselves unto Baal-peor and the judgment of God thereupon in the plague (Numbers 25; 31:16). He thus sought to break down Israel 's separation from the heathen nations and succeeded in measure in this by teaching Balak to put a stumbling-block before the children of Israel and caused them to eat things sacrificed unto idols and commit fornication.

Association with the world is the doctrine of Balaam and the breakdown of separation from evil. It is the hireling prophet who for his own ends seeks to destroy all godly separateness. There were such in the Church of Pergamos who held Balaam's doctrine, and the Lord held the Church responsible for this evil tolerated in their midst. Those who held this doctrine were undoubtedly such of the clergy who preached for hire and advised the mingling of the Church with idolatrous temple worship. History records that many new ceremonies, the burning of candles in daylight, incense, images, processions, purifications, and innumerable other things were introduced into the Church in the fourth and fifth centuries.

Idolatry and fornication were the two sins Israel was led into by the counsel of Balaam. These evils were strongly denounced by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:15-18 and 10:19 -28. In Pergamos the teachers of these impure practices were sheltered in the Church and the result was the moral ruin of all contaminated by these unholy and evil teachings and practices. The angel, or representative of Pergamos, is not charged with this evil of Balaam, but with allowing it. They had not resisted this evil. They were indifferent to these evil teachers of Balaamism and Nicolaitanism, and thus the sin of Pergamos was toleration of evil and evil men. Alas, how true this is of the professing Church of today. May we heed the censure of the Lord to Pergamos. From 1 John 5:20-21 we learn that any object outside of Jesus Christ is idolatry, and 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 and James 4:4 would teach us that friendship and illicit intercourse with the world is fornication.

The Lord further charged Pergamos with having those who held the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing He hated. We noticed that in Ephesus there were "the deeds of the Nicolaitanes" and they were hated by the Assembly and commended of the Lord for it. Here there is an advance in this evil, for it is now "the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes" and the propagators of it were in the bosom of the Church. It was now systematized evil taught and practised. The Assembly had settled down in the world where Satan's throne was and was tolerating what the Lord hated. It cannot be otherwise when the Church abandons its pilgrim character; separation from evil cannot be maintained while dwelling in the world. This applies individually and collectively. As we have fully gone into the meaning of "Nicolaitanism" in the message to Ephesus, we shall not speak further of it here.

Parable of the Mustard Seed

We have been drawing attention in previous studies to the similarity between the seven parables of Matthew thirteen and these seven Churches. The third parable likens the kingdom of heaven to a grain of mustard seed, which the Lord says "is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof" (Matt.13:31-32). How true this is of the state of the professing Church in this third period of Pergamos. Christianity and the Church had spread from the small, genuine mustard seed to a great tree of prominence and now was giving shelter to evil teachers and evil doctrine, which the birds symbolize. How true also of Christendom today, and how sad that it is so!

The Call to Repentance

"Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth" (Rev.2:16). The Lord thus seeks to arouse the whole church to self-judgment for allowing the evils of Balaamism and Nicolaitanism among them and for their dwelling where Satan's throne was. He calls upon the entire church to repent, to change their mind about these allowed evils, to judge them, and to take sides with Himself against them.

The Lord was still looking for repentance in the Church during this Pergamos period: there was the possibility of recovery to proper conditions and characteristics of the Assembly pleasing to the Lord. This was only possible by genuine repentance and clearance of the evil.

Confession of sin, self-judgment and godly sorrow is true repentance. This is ever the only way of recovery from evil and its snares. If things come into our lives or into the Assembly of God that are contrary to the Word of God, we must exercise self-judgment and repentance, individually or collectively. Thus we shall be delivered from them, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of" (2 Cor.7:10).

The Lord said to Pergamos that if they did not repent and judge the evil among them, "I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth." Notice, He did not say, "I will fight against you," but "against them." He never fights against His own people, but He will fight against those who bring in evil doctrines and practices, such as those who held the doctrine of Balaam and the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes at Pergamos. If we do not judge evil that may arise in the Church, the Lord will do it Himself, and then it will be to our shame. He is zealous of His glory and of the holiness that becomes His house.

The sword of His mouth, with which He will fight against evil doers, is the Word of God. His Word is "sharper than any two-edged sword" (Heb.4:12), and has come from His mouth (Deut.8:3); it is God-breathed. He presents Himself to Pergamos as the One who has the "sharp sword with two edges" (v.12), and when He comes to earth in judgment He will smite the nations with a sharp sword that goes out of His mouth, as we have previously noted in Rev.19:11-15. That living Word we have and must use it against evil that may arise in our lives or in the Church.

There is a remarkable example in the history of this Pergamos period of the Church of the Lord fighting against evil doers with the sword of His mouth. Arius, who had held the evil teaching of Christ being a created being, later presented a plausible confession of belief in a general way in the Holy Trinity. Constantine accepted his confession and sent for Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople, and told him that Arius must be received into communion on the following day, which was Sunday. Alexander, who was almost 100 years old, was greatly distressed by the Emperor's orders. He entered the church building and earnestly prayed that the Lord would prevent such a profanation. During the evening of the same day, Arius was talking lightly and triumphantly of the ceremonies appointed for the morrow. But the Lord heard the prayer of His aged servant and that same night the evil Arius died. The Lord stepped in and did not allow the reinstatement into the Church of this heretical teacher. ( Miller's Church History, Vol. 1.)

The words of the Lord in this verse of Revelation 2:16 give us a principle of utmost importance as to cases of discipline in the Assembly, or as to the state of the whole Church. As another has remarked: "If evil is permitted to pass unjudged in the Assembly, owing to the indifference or laxity of the saints, or from unwillingness to face the difficulty, the Lord will first wait in His long-suffering, and seek through one and another, by whatever means He may choose, to awaken the consciences of His people; and then, if they fail to respond to His exhortations, He will come in Himself and deal with the evil which the Assembly had failed to judge, and in which all, by refusing to judge, had become implicated. It should never be forgotten that holiness becomes the house of God and that 'our God is a consuming fire'" (Ps.93:5; Heb.12:29) (E. Dennett).

Further Errors in Pergamos Period

Before going on with the message of the Lord to the Assembly at Pergamos, we desire to draw attention to further errors which came into the professing Church during this third period of its history. As Christianity outwardly flourished under the protection of Constantine and the profession of Christianity became the sure way to wealth, honours and positions of eminence in the empire, thousands flocked around the churches at the Easter and Pentecostal festivals waiting to be baptized. Some writers speak of twelve thousand men, besides women and children, having been baptized in one year in Rome . As the Church gained in numbers, power and popularity in this outward way, the Bishops said, "We have been looking for Christ's reign, but we have been wrong. Constantine 's empire is Christ's kingdom." Thus the hope and truth of Christ's coming was given up by the Church at this time and it no longer looked for His promised coming and reign. The term "catholic" was now invariably applied in all official documents to the Church also. It was now the universal official Church upheld by the State.

During this period superstition had by this time taught men to connect the forgiveness of sins with the rite of baptism. In the fourth century the observance of this rite had an immense place in the minds of professing Christians. They believed that the waters of baptism purified the soul completely. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, who died around 200, is the first of the Fathers that alludes to infant baptism. "Regeneration, born again, baptism, are used as interchangeable terms, and as meaning the same thing, in the writings of the Fathers" ( Miller's Church History, Vol. 1).

Anxious parents hastened to have their delicate infants baptized, lest they should the under the curse of original sin, and the man of the world delayed his baptism until the near approach of death so that he might pass from the waters of regeneration to the realms of blessedness untainted by further sin. Thus this serious error of baptismal regeneration, instead of the Scriptural teaching of regeneration and new birth by the water of the Word of God and the Spirit's power, came into the professing Church so early and remains the accepted doctrine of multitudes in Christendom today.

It was during this time that the unscriptural system of monasteries, nunneries and asceticism sprang up. Such austerity of life, of harsh treatment of the body, etc., was more an offspring of heathen philosophy than of the teachings of Christ. The words of the apostle in Colossians 2:23 surely apply to these things.

The Call to the Individual

"He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev.2:17). In such a state of ruin and declension, as found in Pergamos, the Lord appeals to the individual, to whoever has an opened ear to hear what the Spirit has said to the churches, and will heed and consider the censure of the Lord. He that has an inward ear opened by the Holy Spirit will listen and receive the communications given by the Lord. We are thus reminded of our individual responsibility. The Lord speaks to us individually, even today, about the state of His Church and would have us hear the voice of the Spirit and overcome evil.

The Promise to the Overcomer

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it" (Rev.2:17). The Lord always looks for overcomers. Those who heed the Spirit's call and message are empowered to overcome the evils pointed out and are given precious promises. The overcomer in Pergamos would judge the evil of the doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitanes and mourn about the dishonour done to the Lord's name by toleration of them in the Assembly. We become overcomers by faith, and by the power of the Spirit as we act upon God's Word (1 John  2:14 ; 4:4; 5:4).

The teachers of the doctrine of Balaam in Pergamos taught Christians to eat things sacrificed to idols, but to the overcomer of this evil the Lord promises the hidden manna for his food. This would remind us of the pot of manna that was laid up in the ark as a witness and memorial of God's faithfulness in giving Israel manna for forty years in the wilderness. The manna was Christ in His walk down here in humiliation in wilderness circumstances. The hidden manna is Christ in heaven, hidden from the eyes of men, but treasured by the Father. As we behold Him there by faith, we are reminded of what He has been down here, tempted and tried in all points as we are, but victorious over all. Recalling Him thus to mind, we feed upon Him and are sustained and strengthened in secret communion. Christ the great Overcomer is the food for the child of God, and as he feeds upon Him strength is gained for overcoming and he too becomes an overcomer.

If we think of the hidden manna as that which the overcomer will be given in heaven, it would tell us of how wilderness experiences of feeding on Christ down here will bloom afresh in glory. There we will enjoy anew all that Christ has meant to us in this wilderness life, how He sustained us as the manna for our souls.

The Lord also promises the overcomer a white stone with a new name written thereon. A white stone was used in the social life and judicial customs of the ancients. Days of festivity were noted by a white stone and a host's appreciation of a special guest was indicated by a white stone with a name or message written on it. A white stone meant acquittal in the courts and a black stone, condemnation. Voters would also indicate on a white stone the name of the candidate they approved of and put it into an urn. This promise of the Lord thus indicates His personal delight and approbation of each individual overcomer. It is a precious, secret token of His approval, a secret between Himself and the faithful heart, for no one knows the name written on the stone but the recipient. What an encouragement for the overcomer who incurs the disfavour and opposition of those who tolerate evil. May we seek to be overcomers for Christ in every evil day.

The Message To Thyatira

(Rev.2:18-29)

We have previously pointed out that these messages to the seven Churches are divided into two groups of three and four, and that the conditions found in the first three churches were temporary, whereas the state of things manifest in the last four continues on to the end of the Church's history. In our present studies we come to the fourth Church, Thyatira, which thus stands in the middle of the whole series of the seven. Three Church periods preceded Thyatira and three other prophetic periods follow it. The first three culminate in Thyatira and she becomes the embodiment of the three stages of departure which we have seen in Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamos. The last three Church periods spring from Thyatira.

With this fourth prophetic period of Thyatira there is thus a change, for we have here a condition of things that continues on in Christendom to the coming of the Lord for the true Church and goes on to its culmination in Babylon the great of Revelation seventeen. In that chapter we read of its destruction shortly before the Lord's coming to earth in judgment. The development of evil in the professing Church, which we shall find set forth in the message to Thyatira, is therefore a permanent condition and represents a system of religious evil that is with us today.

We shall see that there is no hope of recovery held out in Thyatira; there is no prospect of deliverance of the whole Church from its evil condition, for the Lord gave her space to repent and she repented not, therefore there is the pronouncement of judgment to come. But a remnant is recognized within Thyatira that is not characterized by the evil and for the first time we hear of the Lord's coming in these messages to the seven Churches. His coming is held out as a bright hope of full deliverance from the ruin and departure that has come into Christendom. This hope is given to the remnant and overcomers.

The Name Thyatira

One authority on the meaning of names has given the meaning of Thyatira as "odour of affliction" (JB Jackson). Another has said that it comes from two words, one of which means "a sacrifice or incense offering," the other word meaning "that which goes on continually." Combining these two thoughts, the suggested interpretation of the name Thyatira would be "continual sacrifice." Another suggested meaning is "one unwearied in presenting sacrificial offerings." All these meanings point us to that which characterized the system of religious teaching which sprang up in this Thyatira period.

Thyatira gives us a picture of the professing Church during the Middle Ages, the period in history called the Dark Ages. The Thyatira period began around 600 AD and continued to the eve of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. It was in the seventh century that the Bishop of Rome was first recognized as the vice-regent of Christ on earth. He became the pope and the acknowledged head of the Church. This was the beginning of the Roman system of the Papacy. It is during this period of Thyatira that Roman Catholicism developed and became the corrupt Church of systematized evil which we know today. During this time Christianity became heathenized.

One of the great characteristics of the Church of Rome is the sacrifice of the mass which it is always offering for sin. This is truly a distinguishing feature of the Roman system, and thus the meaning of Thyatira, "continual sacrifice," "one unwearied in presenting sacrificial offerings," aptly characterizes the Church of this period. The continual or oft repeated sacrifice of the mass is Satan's insult to the one perfect and complete offering of Christ for sin and is a denial of the finished work of the Saviour for sinners. "We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all. . By one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb.10:10,14).

The Approach of the Lord

"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" (Rev.2:18). The character in which the Lord presents Himself to these Assemblies of Asia is always in keeping with the condition and state of the Church addressed. Here He presents Himself in the most searching and positive character of the Son of God with absolute authority and penetrating judgment. The Lord approaches Thyatira in a sterner and severer manner than He does to any of the other Churches, for there was the greatest wickedness and presumption here.

The woman Jezebel called herself a prophetess and was teaching and seducing God's servants into spiritual fornication and idolatry. This is what the system of Rome has ever done. She claims to be a prophetess and to speak with authority from God and puts the seal of God on the most terrible iniquity. The Church of Rome presumes to be the chaste bride of Christ and 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), and as such He wields authority and is judicially prepared to act against evil. The Church of the living God is the house of God on earth and holiness becometh His house (1 Timothy  3:15 ; Psalm 93:5), therefore the Lord will not tolerate evil in His house, but will judge it in His own time. Here in Thyatira the Lord presents Himself in His full Deity and in all the power of His person as Son of God. He comes in all His authority and exaltation and would assert His headship over His rebellious Church that was setting up her own authority.

His eyes are like unto a flame of fire. Eyes speak of intelligence, understanding and discernment, and the symbol of a flame of fire would convey the thought of all-searching, penetrating, discerning judgment. The prophet Habakkuk said, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" (ch. 1:13 ). "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov.15:3).

The feet of the Lord like fine brass indicates the firmness with which He deals with sin in divine righteousness. Brass typifies God meeting man in his responsibility according to divine righteousness. This is set forth in the brazen altar of the tabernacle. There God met man in his sins and His claims in righteousness were met by the offered sacrifice.

In this presentation of the Lord we see that He comes to deal with the public state of the Church as His responsible light-bearer and witness in the world. He would remind her of His absolute authority over the house of God, of His discerning and piercing judgment and of His firm purpose not to pass over sin. Though He is the God of all grace and love, He is also holy and righteous and will deal in justice and judgment. These solemn characteristics are ever true of the Lord and abide as principles in His dealings with single Assemblies and with individual believers everywhere.

The Commendation

"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" (Rev.2:19). Following the severe presentation of the Lord to Thyatira in the previous verse, which we dwelt upon in our last study, it is rather astonishing to read these wonderful words of commendation. But it is ever the way of our Lord to commend first all that which is good and worthy before dealing with that which is grievous and evil to His holy eyes. In spite of the awful evil system that was rising up and ruling during this Thyatira period of the dark Middle Ages, there was a faithful remnant of true believers (spoken of as "my servants" and "the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine"), whose faithfulness and piety shone out the brighter in the increasing evil.

It is ever a principle in Scripture that whenever there is corporate failure, the faithful remnant becomes invested with the collective position before God. So on this principle the Lord is able to impute to Thyatira all the merits, faithfulness and activities of the devoted saints in her midst, and speaks of their work, charity, service, faith and patience as that of Thyatira. This group of faithful souls is looked at positionally as the true Church of that period; the Lord recognized them as His people in that day.

Of this class of faithful witnesses another has well written: "Nowhere, perhaps, is there a more deeply interesting story; nowhere longer and more unwearied patience; nowhere truer, or perhaps so true, hearts for Christ and for the truth, and for faithfulness to Him against a corrupt Church, as in the saints of the Middle Ages. Through toil and labour, hunted and punished in spite of a system far more persevering, far better organized, than heathen persecutions, violent as for a time they surely were; with no fresh miraculous revelation, or publicly sustaining body, or profession of the Church at large, clothed with universal acknowledgement as such, to give them confidence; with every name of ignominy that people or priest could invent to hunt them with, they pursued their hemmed but never abandoned way with divinely given constancy, and maintained the testimony of God and the promised existence of the Church against the gates of Hades, at the cost of rest and home and life and all things earth could give or nature feel. And Christ had foreseen and had not forgotten it" (JND).

Of the things which the Lord commends among these faithful believers in Thyatira, love is mentioned first. It is the great characteristic of the divine nature and of God who is love. From it springs all spiritual activity. In the more correct translations, faith is mentioned next. It is "faith which worketh by love" (Gal.5:6) and is manifested in service to God and man. Then there was patience, or endurance amidst much persecution. "And the last works (to be) more than the first" (N.Tn). There was increasing devotedness amongst these saints. As the evil increased, their energy and zeal for the Lord also increased, so that the Lord could say their last works were more than the first. Love and faith, which were missing in the Assembly at Ephesus, were found amidst this remnant in Thyatira, and in this sense their state was above that of Ephesus where first love had been departed from.

One of our wonderful hymns was written by Bernard of Clairvaux during this dark and evil time. The following lines of its first and second verses are a sample of the devotion which the Lord was commending as answering to the love of His heart:

"Saviour, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast;
But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.

"No voice can sing, no heart can frame,
Nor can the mind conceive,
A sweeter sound than Jesus' name
To sinners who believe."

Church history records the names of many of these faithful witnesses who remained true to the Lord Jesus and did not go on with all the evil of the corrupt Church of this period. Some of these were known as Nestorians, Paulicians, the Albigenses of the southern province of France on the western side of the Alps, and the Waldenses of the valleys of Piedmont on the eastern side of the Alps . Multitudes of these faithful ones were slain by the wicked Roman System during these Dark Ages. This faithful remnant is another evidence of the truth of the oft-mentioned statement that God never leaves Himself without witnesses. No matter how dark and evil the days may be, God ever raises up some faithful ones who walk in separation from the evil and bear testimony to Himself. Such witnesses of faith stand out like bright, shining stars on a dark night. May we seek to be such in the present evil day.

The Lord's Censure

" But I have against thee that thou permittest the woman Jezebel, she who calls herself prophetess, and she teaches and leads astray My servants to commit fornication and eat of idol sacrifices. And I gave her time that she should repent, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and her children will I kill with death; and all the assemblies shall know that I am He that searches the reins and the hearts; and I will give to you each according to your works" (Rev.2:20-23, N.Tn).

Having expressed His appreciation and commendation of faithful devotedness of the godly remnant, the Lord now speaks of that which He had against the angel or messenger of the Church in Thyatira. He points out the grievous evil that was permitted in the Assembly, which called forth His severe condemnation and impending judgment. A wicked woman Jezebel was allowed to teach and to lead astray God's servants into spiritual fornication and idolatry.

The apostle Paul was led by God's Spirit to write: "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence" (1.Tim.2:11-12). Thus for a woman to teach in God's Assembly is definitely contrary to God's Word, not only in the days of Thyatira, but in the present day. The evil results of a woman teaching in Thyatira were manifest in her leading astray servants of the Lord into the worst evils. As Eve was deceived by Satan and led Adam into sin, so Satan has often worked since. When the woman gets out of her ordained sphere and takes the place of a teacher, she is often deceived by Satan and leads others into evil teachings of which he is the father. Many of the false and unscriptural religious cults of our day were started by women.

But there is more serious evil here than just the matter of a woman teaching in the Assembly. It is a principle in Scripture that a woman in a type is expressive of a state and condition of things, whereas a man indicates more the activity and conduct in that state. Remembering also that the state in each of these seven Assemblies of Asia is prophetical of the various conditions that would exist in the whole professing Church in its seven different stages, we have here in the activity of the woman Jezebel a state of things set forth that was to be found in the Church at large of the Thyatiran period in the Middle Ages. The professing Church as a whole was to be characterized by this thing of Jezebel claiming to be a prophetess and teaching and seducing the Lord's servants into idolatry. It is the Church taking the place of a prophetess and teaching.

In Ephesians 5 we are told that "the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands. . This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (v.23-24,32). This Scripture teaches us that the Church as the bride of Christ is to be subject to Him as its Head and Bridegroom. Therefore the Church is never to teach or to set herself up as an authority of Christ her Head. The Word of God has come from Christ to the Church and she is to be subject to it. Christ teaches by His Word, as ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of His servants. In Thyatira we have the woman in the man's place and the Church substituting herself for Christ, claiming the authority of a prophetess for her teaching.

As previously pointed out in our introductory remarks on Thyatira, it is the Church of Rome that is clearly symbolized here by the woman Jezebel teaching and leading astray God's people into idolatry and evil. In Romanism it is the Church that teaches and sets herself above the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures. Their subtle propaganda is set forth today in national magazines and newspapers, claiming that the Roman Catholic Church existed before the Bible, and that "the Catholic Church is the mother of the Bible." Rome claims that she has given us the Bible, that she has sole authority from Christ and alone can interpret the Scriptures, that all other interpretations of it are private interpretations and wrong. This is the evil woman teaching and usurping authority over Christ and His Word.

In Pergamos the Lord spoke about the doctrine of Balaam and his activity of evil in the Old Testament. Here in Thyatira the Lord speaks of the evil of Jezebel. This was the name of a well-known wicked queen in the days of Elijah the prophet of the Lord. She was the "daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians" and wife of Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kings  16:31 ). Her father had been a priest of Astarte (Venus) and the family was famous for intense devotion to Baal. She fed 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah at her table and slew the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings  18:13,19; N.Tn). Her whoredoms and witchcrafts are spoken of as "so many" by king Jehu who was used of God to execute judgment upon her and the whole house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:22). We are also told that she was the instigator of all the evil which her husband Ahab did. "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" (1 Kings  21:25 ). Such was the character of wicked Jezebel and such has been the manifested evil, idolatrous and murderous character of the wicked, ecclesiastical system of Rome which Jezebel typifies in Thyatira.

The Woman Leavening The Meal

The fourth parable of Matthew 13 is similar to what we have set forth in the activity of Jezebel in Thyatira, the fourth Church. The Lord said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened" (v.33). Leaven is always a type of evil in Scripture (1 Cor.5:6-8), The three measures of meal speak of Christ the Corn of wheat, the Bread of life, or the doctrine of Christ. The woman here is doing that which was forbidden in the Scriptures; she was stealthily hiding leaven in the pure meal, a thing prohibited in the meal-offering (Lev.2:11). The purpose was to leaven and corrupt the whole of the pure meal. Thus there is the thought of evil and opposition to the Word of God in the activity of this woman.

This is what we have in Romanism as presented in the figure of the woman Jezebel and her activity. The Papal system has corrupted the pure doctrine of Christ by introducing into it her evil doctrines one by one. She has ever mixed into the truth of God the leaven of her own heathen ideas and then presents this mixture as a dogma of the Church, which must be accepted under pain of excommunication. It is a system of development as can be seen by an examination of the origin of her doctrines and practices. One discovers that they came into being one by one through the centuries.

Prayers for the dead began around 300 AD; the worship of Mary and the saints around the fifth century; Lent was imposed around 998; priests were forbidden to marry by Gregory VII in 1079. Prayer beads were invented by Peter the Hermit in 1090 and auricular confession to the priest was instituted by Pope Innocent III in 1215. The sacrifice of the mass came into existence in the eleventh century and the doctrine of transubstantiation was made an article of faith in 1215. At the Council of Trent in 1546 Roman Catholic traditions were placed on the same level with the Holy Scriptures and the Apocryphal books were added to the Bible. At this same Council command was given that the doctrine of Purgatory be held, taught and preached everywhere. It had been formally received as a dogma of the Church in the time of Gregory the Great in 600. (See Miller's Church History, Vol.2, and "Roman Catholic Inventions.") Thus the woman has been busy mixing leaven into the pure meal and Jezebel has taught and led astray souls into idolatry.

In spite of this history of development in doctrine and practice over a period of centuries, the Church of Rome claims to be the first Church and that which Christ established on earth with Peter as the first pope. As Romanism has greatly revived and presses its claims with great activity in our present day, many are becoming ensnared and led astray by its subtle propaganda. Therefore it is necessary that we speak out clearly and faithfully in warning souls as to this false and evil system of Jezebel teaching which the Lord condemned in Thyatira. The true Church, founded by Christ on Himself as the Rock foundation (Matt.16:16-18; 1 Cor.3:11), is found in the book of Acts and in the Epistles of the New Testament. It is "the church, which is His body" and the glorified Christ is its only head. It is the "church of the firstborn," those born again and baptized by the Spirit of God into this divine body, and whose names are written in heaven (Eph.1:21,22; 1 Cor.12:13; Heb.12:23). In the Epistle to the Romans, written by the apostle Paul around 60 AD, we can see what characterized the first Church there and note how vastly different are the doctrines and practices of the Papal system at Rome today. The Church of Rome developed out of the evils which came into the professing Church in the Pergamos period. It is the first corrupt and idolatrous Church, where the elements of Judaism and heathenism were combined into a fixed, systematized teaching under the garb or cloak of Christianity.

"Leads Astray My Servants"

This is what the Roman system has done according to God's indictment. She has turned the great mass of professing Christians from Christ to Mary; from Christ to the Pope; from the one offering of Christ to the continual sacrifice of the mass; from the Word of God and its certainty to the uncertainty of the traditions of men; in a word, from Christianity to Christianised and Judaised paganism.

"She teaches and leads astray My servants to commit fornication and eat of idol sacrifices." The end result and aim of popish error, blasphemous teachings, and wicked practices is to get her adherents to "commit fornication and eat of idol sacrifices." Fornication, used as a symbol here and elsewhere, signifies for those naming the Name of the Lord: forbidden intercourse with the world. What was begun by Constantine in the Pergamos period was consummated in the papacy. Its taking upon itself to combine secular and spiritual power universally was the masterpiece of the papacy. The unholy union of the Church with the world was perfected as a system in Catholicism and this is spiritual fornication which the Lord abhors. Eating of idol sacrifices is association with heathen idolatry and fellowship with demons, for "that what (the nations) sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God" (1 Cor.10:20, N.Tn).

"My servants" were those who were pious and groaned and suffered under the forced worship of images and the idolatry of this Jezebel system. They were God-fearing and had a conscience about God's Word and a love for the Saviour; yet they never left Romanism and their consciences were stupefied by the acceptance of the clergy and the doings of Jezebel. The Lord regarded their piety and felt it keenly that they were led astray by this evil system.

No Repentance

In the messages to the first three Churches the call to repentance is addressed to the whole Church, for there was still hope that they would repent and return to the Word of God and forsake the evils. But there in Thyatira the Lord has to say, "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" (Rev.2:21-22). Opportunity had been given to the Jezebel-system of Rome to repent of her evil deeds, but she was hardened in her sinful ways and would not repent.

God raised up numerous witnesses for Himself during this period of Thyatira, in Church history, who spoke as men of God and cried against the evils. In the fourteenth century John Wycliffe boldly spoke out in England against iniquities of the Church of Rome and maintained the absolute supremacy of the Holy Scriptures, which he succeeded in translating into English, giving England its first complete Bible. Jerome Savonarola faithfully preached in Italy in the fifteenth century against the evils of the Church, but was hung and burnt by order of the pope. There was John Knox in Scotland, Martin Luther in Germany, Zwingle and Calvin in Switzerland and many others who were mighty reformers whom God raised up to call Rome to repentance; but instead of heeding the call and repenting, she persecuted God's servants and slew many of them.

Papal Rome has continued unto this day unrepentant and will do so until its final judgment as given in Revelation 17 and 18. Therein we see her character is darker and her deeds blacker than in the past. Popery is utterly corrupt and her character fixed and unrepentant to the end. Therefore her judgment is fixed also.

We should notice in passing that it is a principle with God always to give opportunity for repentance before judgment is executed. "I gave her space to repent." Thus He has ever acted from the beginning of time and so should His Church and His people act. Even when speaking of the judgment that He would execute upon Jezebel, the Lord adds, "except they repent." Such is His long-suffering and yearning over His professed people for their recovery from evil.

The Threatened Judgment

"Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds" (Rev.2:22). This is judgment of the severest character upon Jezebel and those that committed adultery with her. There would be forced association with those she seduced into evil with her, and great tribulation and desperate distress for those who tampered with this evil system. All who in the public Christian world of the day meddle and associate with the corruption of Christianity, represented by Jezebel in Thyatira, will be cast into great tribulation and distress, unless they repent. Besides general tribulation, there may be a reference here to the time of great tribulation that shall come upon apostate Christendom after the Lord has come for His bride, the Church (Matt.24:21-31).

And I will kill her children with death" (v.23). There are not only those who have had to do with this Jezebel system and associated with her in evil, but there are her children, those who have been begotten and formed by her evil teaching and are the expression and proponents of her views. There is full judgment for such who have become the devotees of Rome and perpetuate this evil system. There is spiritual death as well as physical death, and also the second death of eternal separation from God (Ezek.18:4; Rev.20:12-15).

This judgment may be twofold, present judgment in divine government in time, and future judgment when every one will receive according to his works. The Lord adds, "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" (v.23). By divine visitation of judgments in time all the churches would know that they have to do with a holy and righteous God who searches the hearts and is not indifferent to evil. He deals with each one individually in discriminating judgment, according to each one's works. Though God moves slowly in utmost patience, judgment is sure to come.

Encouragement To The Remnant

"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" (v.24-25). Here the Lord addresses in tender and gracious tones the faithful remnant, which we have previously spoken of as existing in this period of Thyatira, and which may have its representatives or counterpart even in this present day. They did not have this evil doctrine of Jezebel and had no part in the iniquity which the Lord charged Thyatira with. Their piety and other commendable features we have already noticed in the first part of the Lord's message. They were hounded and persecuted by the papal system; and it would seem were accused of being linked up with the depths of Satan. So the words of the Lord, "The depths of Satan, as they speak," would imply.

But the Lord saw and knew everything and vindicates these faithful ones. He knew it was a great effort for them just to hold on to what they possessed in the Lord, so He considerately and tenderly says, "I will put upon you none other burden, but that which you nave already hold fast till I come." The Saviour would encourage this godly remnant to hold fast, to persevere amidst the corruption, subtle seductions and persecutions until He would come.

Here for the first time in these messages to the Se