The Thyatirean Church Age
“And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, Who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass; I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.
“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
“And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
“But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father. And I will give him the morning star.
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Revelation 2:18-29
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 5, The Pergamean Church Age
Historically, the city of Thyatira was the least noteworthy of all the seven cities of the Revelation. It was situated on the confines of Mysia and Ionia. It was surrounded by many rivers, but they were full of leeches. Its most commendable feature was that it was well off financially due to the corporate guilds of potters, tanners, weavers, dyers, robe makers, etcetera. It was from this city that Lydia, the seller of purple, came. She was Paul’s first European convert.
Now the reason that the Spirit chose this city as the one already containing the spiritual elements for the fourth age was because of its religion. The major religion of Thyatira was the worship of Apollo Tyrimnaios which was joined with the emperor worship cult. Apollo was the sun god, and the next in power to his father, Zeus. He was known as the “averter of evil”; he presided over religious law and expiation (means of atonement, making amends for wrong-doing or guilt). Plato said of him, “He explains to men the institution of temples, sacrifices and services to deities, besides rites connected with death and after life.” He communicated his knowledge of “the future” and his “father’s will” to men through the prophets and oracles. In Thyatira this ritual was conducted by a prophetess who sat on a tripod chair and delivered the messages while entranced.
The hold of this religion was remarkable. Its formidable power did not lie exclusively in the realm of mystery, but lay in the fact no one could belong to the guilds which offered the people their living unless they belonged to the temple worship of Apollo. Anyone who refused to join in the idolatrous feasts and licentious orgies was barred from these first century unions. In order to be a part of the social and commercial life one had to be a practicing pagan idolater.
It is most worthy of note that the very name Thyatira means, “Dominating Female.” Thus this age is characterized by a dominant force, a force that ruthlessly invades all, conquers all and despotically controls. Now a dominating female is the greatest curse in the world.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
From the Garden of Eden onward, woman has constantly and successfully tried to take control over the man, and right today it is a woman’s world with the goddess of America being a naked female. As the female idol falling out of the skies (remember her arms were iron bars) characterized the first or Ephesian Age, so her power has grown until she has gained absolute authority, such authority being usurped by her iron disposition.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
And in this Thyatirean Church age she is a DOMINATING FEMALE. She is Mystery Babylon. She is the great whore. She is Jezebel the false prophetess. WHY? Because the true female is submissive to God. Christ is her head. She has no word but His, no thoughts but His, no leadership but His. But what about this church? She has cast out the Word, destroyed the Bibles and worthy essays of the godly. She has slain those who would preach the truth. She has taken over kings, princes and nations — controls armies and insists that she is the true body of Christ and that her popes are the vicars of Christ. She is entirely seduced by the devil until she in turn has become the seducer of others. She is the bride of Satan and has produced his bastard-child religions.
All through the Dark Ages she has dominated. For over nine hundred years she plundered and destroyed. She killed the arts, destroyed the sciences, produced nothing but death until the light of the Truth was almost entirely gone and only the barest sliver of light remained. The oil and the wine had almost ceased to flow; but though she dominated the world kingdoms and demanded that all men find their citizenship in her, there was a little group who belonged to God and their citizenship was in heaven, and them she could not destroy. God kept His little flock; they could not be destroyed. This Church of Rome was as heathen and wicked as Queen Athalia who tried to destroy all the royal seed and almost succeeded, but GOD PRESERVED ONE, and of him there came more of the faithful. So God preserved a little flock in that long dark night and of their truth there finally arose a Luther.
Anyone who knows anything at all about the Roman Catholic Church and its form of worship can tell why this city of Thyatira was chosen by the Spirit to represent the church in the Dark Ages. There it is, right before our eyes.
The Age
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
The Thyatirean Age lasted the longest of them all, about 900 years, from 606 to 1520.
The Messenger
They were Saint Patrick and Saint Columba. It was to Saint Columba that the lot of being the messenger fell.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
About 60 years after the death of Saint Patrick, Columba was born in County Donegal, North Ireland, to the royal family of Fergus. He became a brilliant, consecrated scholar, committing to memory most of the Scripture. God called him in an audible voice to be a missionary. After he had heard the voice of God, nothing could stop him, and his miraculous ministry has caused many historians to acclaim him next to the apostles. So great was his ministry with the supernatural signs following that some (especially students in Rome) have thought the accounts were exaggerated.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
The pure Gospel that was preached by Columba and his fellow workers spread over the whole of Scotland, turning it to God. It also overflowed into Ireland and over Northern Europe. His means of spreading the Gospel was one wherein perhaps twelve men under a leader would go into a new area and literally build a Gospel — centered town. Amongst these twelve men would be carpenters, teachers, preachers, etcetera, all wonderfully versed in the Word and holy living. This little colony was enclosed by a wall. Soon this enclosure would be surrounded by students and their families in their own homes, learning the Word and preparing to go out and serve the Lord as missionaries, leaders, and preachers. The men were free to marry though many did not, in order to serve God the better. They remained free from state help, and thereby steered clear of politics. Instead of ever attacking other religions they taught the truth for they believed that the truth was weapon enough to accomplish the ends that God had in mind for them. They were absolutely independent of Rome.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
46 We seen His feet was “fine brass,” and so forth, which meant “His foundation.” He tread the winepress of the wrath of Almighty God, and tramped down and took sin upon Him, and waded out, and pleased God. That’s right. And His foundation is our foundation:
The Salutation
“These things saith the Son of God, Who hath His eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet are like fine brass.” Revelation 2:18
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
The revelation of Godhead to the Thyatirean Age is that Jesus is the Son of God. Once in the days of His flesh He was known as the Son of Man. But henceforth we know Him no more after the flesh. He is no longer the Son of Man, the Great Prophet, Who in Himself gathered together all prophecies. The Only Begotten is back in the bosom of the Father. Now we know Him after the power of the resurrection. He is risen and has taken unto Himself His mighty power and is above all and over all to the praise of His own glory. His glory will He not share with another. His leadership over the church He will not surrender to any man.
He looks down upon Thyatira, and here He sees in that city and in that fourth age the honor which belongs to Him alone, bestowed upon another. His eyes blaze with the fire of wrath and judgment as He sees Apollo revered as the Son of God, when He alone is the Only Begotten of the Father. How awful must be His judgment upon the religion of the Thyatirean Age wherein the church members like the pagan worshippers of the son of god (Apollo the son of Zeus), elevate a human ruler to adoration, backed by the power of the state. For that is exactly what He saw. The Roman Catholic Church, fully immersed in idol worship based upon the rites of the sun god (Apollo) had elevated a man to actual deity (pope) through the marriage of the church to the state. For Thomas Aquinas and Alverus Pelagius formulated and stated that: “The Pope seems to those who view him with the spiritual eye, to be, not a man but a God. There are no bounds to his authority. He can declare to be right what he will and can take away from any their rights as he sees fit. To doubt this universal power leads to being shut out from salvation. The great enemies of the church are the heretics who will not wear the yoke of true obedience.”
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
It was in this age that we witness the rise of Mohammedanism that denied the Son of God and determined death upon all who called themselves Christians.
It was also in this age that the false church defied the first commandment of Almighty God and launched swiftly into breaking the second commandment for it put its pope in the place of Jesus Christ and established and enforced idol worship to such an extent that it meant death to those who refused the icons a place within the church. Under Empress Theodora, alone, from 842 to 867, over 100,000 saints were killed because they reputed the images of no value.
The Eulogy
“I know thy works, and love, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” Revelation 2:19
Now works will never take the place of faith in God for our salvation. But works will show forth our faith already placed in Him. Good works won’t save you, but they will come forth out of a saved life as fruit unto the Lord. I believe in good works. Even if a man is not saved, he ought to do good works and do the best he can. What is horrible in the sight of God is for men to do evil works and then say that they are doing the will of the Lord. That is what the bishops and popes and the hierarchy of Rome were doing. They were killing, maiming, and doing all manner of evil in the Name of the Lord. They lived out lives exactly opposite to what the Word teaches. In that evil day those true believers shone like a light in a dark place as they continually did good; for they returned cursing with blessing, and did the truth to honor God even though many died for it.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
In this verse He is commending His children because they were living changed lives. Their works testified to a new Spirit within. Men saw their good works and glorified God. Yes sir, if you are a Christian you are going to do what is right. Your works will show that your heart is right. And it won’t be something that you put on, for you will do His will when no one but God sees you, and you will do His will even if it costs you your life.
“I know your love, service, faith and patience.” You will note that their love is placed between “works” and “service.” And that is the right place for it, because without love our works are not accepted before God and neither is our service. Paul speaking to the Corinthians said, “Without love, I am nothing, and whatever I do is without profit unless it is done in love.” Now you can see right here that these believers weren’t in that Nicolaitane class that did works as a means of salvation or to be admired by men. They did their works out of the love of God that was shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost. That love in their hearts was God’s love for His own. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are MY disciples, that you have love one for another.” The pagans who saw the lives of the early Christians said, “Behold how they love each other.” John said, “Every one that loveth is born of God,” I John 4:7.
I want to give a warning right here. It says concerning the last days that because of abounding iniquity the love of many will wax cold. In the Laodicean, or last age, self love, and love for material things will take the place of the true love of God. We need to guard against the power of sin in these last days. So many are getting so hard because they haven’t realized the effect of this last day spirit. It is time to draw nigh to God and let him fill our lives with His love, or we will feel the coldness of the last day church, and reject the truth of God which alone is able to help us.
In those dark and dreadful years the true vine held its love for God and love of the brethren. God commended them for it.
“I know your service.” Jesus said, “He that is greatest of all is servant to all.” A wise man commented on that saying. Here is what he said, “Only history will prove the truth of that dictum.” That man was right. All the truly great men of history have been servants. They who demanded to be served; they who oppressed; they who sought to always be at the head, have gone down in shame. Even the very rich are condemned by God when they have not used their wealth right. But look into history and you will find that the truly great were those who served others.
“Well done, good and faithful SERVANT, enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” It is hard to be always a servant. But those who spend and are spent for others will one day be seated with Him in His throne. It will be worth it all, then. “Let us labor for the Master, from the dawn till setting sun, let us talk of all His wondrous love and care; and when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.”
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
“I know your faith.” Now he does not say here as He did to the church in Pergamos, “you hold MY faith.” He is not talking about His faith now, but He is commending them for their faithfulness. And as He does He also mentions their “patience.” Now faithfulness and patience go together. In fact patience is the outcome of faithfulness, for it says in James 1:3, “The trying of your faith worketh patience.” There is absolutely no other way in which to gain patience. It has to come by the trial of our faith. Romans 5:3, “Tribulation worketh patience.” How highly God regards this outworking of our patience is seen in James 1:4, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.” God’s will for us is Perfection. And that perfection is patience — waiting on God and waiting for God. This is the process of character development. How highly God has commended these saints of the Dark Ages. Patient as lambs led to the slaughter, lovingly, faithfully they served God. That is all they wanted out of life, just service to their Lord. How great was to be their reward.
“I know thy works; and the last to be more than the first.” This is certainly remarkable. As the darkness of the age increased; as the honor roll of the martyrs grew lengthier day by day, they worked all the harder, they served all the more, and their faith increased. How tragic it was that in the Ephesian Age love waned. And truly nothing is said of the increased labor of love in the other ages; but in this age, in the darkest of all ages, they served Him even more. What a lesson that is. There is no ceasing of this gracious service of love unto the Lord, but rather an increasing of it. That is the secret. Let the enemy attempt to thwart our service to the Lord — our reply is increased service. When the faint are crying in fear, that is the time to shout the victory.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
The word, Thyatira, has various meanings amongst which is “Continual Sacrifice.” By many this is believed to be a prophecy concerning the use of the Mass which is a continual presentation of the sacrifice of Christ. That is an excellent thought, but it might also mean the continual sacrifice in lives and labors of the true believers of the Lord.
The Rebuke
“Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest (tolerate) that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.” Revelation 2:20
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
Now with this verse I want you to drop down to verse 23 and see the proof of a great truth I have been bringing to your attention all along. “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts.” I have been saying right along that there are actually two churches, though the Spirit speaks to both of them in each age, as though they were but one. Here it is plainly stated that there are churches, and it states just as plainly that some of those churches most evidently do NOT know that He is the One Who searcheth the reins and the hearts. He is going to prove to them that is so. Now then, what churches will be those that do not know this truth? Of course it is the false vine group because the true believers certainly know that judgment begins at the house of God, and they being God-fearing, judge themselves that they be not judged.
Now why does God call these churches His churches even though they are the false vine? The truth of the matter is that they are Christians. But they are not Christians of the Spirit. They are Christians of the flesh. They are bearing the Name in vain. Mark 7:7, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” But indeed they are Christians for what else could they be? A Mohammedan is a Mohammedan. That is his religion no matter how he lives it because he subscribes in theory to what the Koran teaches. In the same way a Christian is a Christian as long as he subscribes to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, born of a virgin, was crucified and died and rose again, that He is the Saviour of mankind, etcetera. (In fact, in the Laodicean Age there will be those who call themselves Christians because they subscribe to the fine qualities of Jesus, while reserving to themselves the right to deny His Deity. Christian Scientists have done that already as well as multitudes who preach a Social Gospel.) He is a nominal Christian and belongs to the church. But He is not a TRUE or Spiritual believer. That kind of a believer is one who has been baptized into the body of Christ and is a member of Him. But nonetheless, it is in God’s order that the tares grow up with the wheat and they are not to be uprooted. That is the command of God. Their day for binding and burning is coming; but not yet.
So the Spirit is speaking to this mixed group. On the one hand He is praising, and on the other He is rebuking. He has told what is right with the true believer. Now He warns what the false vine must do if it is to stand justified before the Lord.
That Woman Jezebel
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
The apostle James showed us the course that sin takes. James 1:14-15, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Now that is a picture of exactly what is happening in the church ages. As sin started in nothing but a feeling, so the death to the church started with the simple, little noticed deeds of the Nicolaitanes. From the deeds it went to a doctrine. From the doctrine it embraced the power of the state and the introduction of paganism. Now in this age it goes to its own prophetess (teacher) and so it travels on until it will find itself in the lake of fire, for that is exactly where it is going to end up, in the second death.
Now the whole cry of God against this fourth age is found in His denunciation of this prophetess, Jezebel. And to understand exactly why He denounces her so, we will have to look up her history in the Bible and when we find what she did back there, we will know what is going on at this time.
The first and very important thing that we learn about Jezebel is that she is NOT a daughter of Abraham, nor is her induction into the tribes of Israel one of spiritual admission as was that of Ruth, the Moabitess. No sir. This woman was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of Sidon (I Kings 16:31), who was the priest unto Astarte. He had gained the throne by murdering his predecessor, Pheles. So we see right away that she was the daughter of a murderer. (This certainly reminds us of Cain.) And the way she became a part of Israel was not through the spiritual channels that God had ordained for Gentile admission; but she came in by MARRIAGE to Ahab, the king of the ten tribes of Israel. Now this union as we have seen was not Spiritual; it was political. And so this woman who was steeped in idolatry did not have the least desire to become a worshipper of the One True God, but rather she came with the avowed intentions of turning Israel away from the Lord. Now Israel (the ten tribes) had already known what it was to worship the golden calves, but as yet they were not sold out to idolatry, for God was worshipped and the law of Moses was acknowledged. But from the time of Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel, idolatry progressed in a deadly fashion. It was when this woman became a priestess in the temples that she erected to Astarte (Venus) and Baal (sun god) that Israel came to the crisis point of her life.
With this in mind we can now begin to see what the Spirit of God is setting forth in this Thyatirean Age. Here it is.
Ahab married Jezebel and he did it as a political maneuver to strengthen his kingdom and secure it. That is exactly what the church did when it married under Constantine. They both got together for political reasons, though they put a spiritual air to it. Now no one can convince me that Constantine was a Christian. He was a pagan with what looked like Christian trappings. He painted white crosses on the soldiers’ shields. He was the originator of the Knights of Columbus. He put a cross on the steeple of St. Sophia’s thereby starting a tradition.
It was Constantine’s idea to get everyone together, the pagans, nominal Christians and true Christians. And for awhile it looked as if he would succeed for the real believers came along to see if they could bring back the ones that had drifted away from the Word. When they saw that they couldn’t bring them back into the truth, they were forced to break away from the body political. Then when they did, they were called heretics and persecuted.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
Now when Ahab married Jezebel he allowed her to take the state money and erect two huge houses of worship of Astarte and Baal. The one that was erected for Baal was big enough for all Israel to come and worship thereat. And when Constantine and the church married he gave the church buildings, and set up altars and images, and organized the hierarchy that had already been shaping up.
When Jezebel got the power of the state behind her she forced her religion on the people and killed the prophets and priests of God.
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
Now just let us stop a minute here and rehearse what we brought out about the worship in Thyatira. I said that they worshipped Apollo (who was the sun god) along with the emperor. Now this Apollo was called the “averter of evil.” He turned evil away from people. He blessed them and was a real god to them. He was supposed to teach the people. He explained about worship, and temple rites, services to gods, about sacrifices and death and life after death. The way he did this was through a prophetess who sat entranced upon a tripod chair. My! Do you see it? Here is that prophetess called Jezebel and she is teaching the people. And her teaching is seducing the servants of God and causing them to commit fornication. Now fornication means “idol worship.” That is what its spiritual meaning is. It is an illegal union. Ahab’s union and Constantine’s union were both illegal. Both committed spiritual fornication. Every fornicator will wind up in the lake of fire. God said so.
Now then, the teaching of the Catholic Church (the church is female, it is a woman) denies the Word of God. The pope who is literally Apollo in a modern version has taught the people to join themselves to idols. The Roman Church has now become a false prophetess to the people because she has taken away the Word of the Lord from the people and given her own ideas as to what constitutes forgiveness of sins, what brings the blessings of God; and the priests have gone so far as to state categorically that they have power not only in life but in death. They teach on their own that there is a purgatory, but you can’t find that in the Word. They teach that prayers and masses and money will get you out of purgatory and into heaven. The whole system that is based upon its teaching is false. It does not lie on the sure foundation of the revelation of God in His Word but lies on the shifting, sinking, sands of its own diabolical untruths.
Space to Repent
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
Revelation 2:21, “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” Do you know that this church was actually more wicked than Ahab? Do you know that he repented for awhile and walked softly before God? You can’t say that of the Roman Catholic Church. No sir. She has never repented but has stubbornly destroyed any and all who tried to help her repent. That is history. Now God kept raising up not only the messengers to each age but He raised up some wonderful helpers for those messengers. He gave every age some wonderful men of God and they did everything they could to bring the church back to God.
Sentence Against the Harlot Passed
An Exposition of The Seven Church Ages
Chapter 6, The Thyatirean Church Age
Revelation 2:22-23, “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
What? This woman has children? And she a whore? If that is the case that she had children by her whoredoms then she must be burnt with fire as the Word has said. That is exactly true. That is her end for she will burn with fire. Her end is the lake of fire. But stop and think about these children for a moment. A woman is the one out of whom the children come. It is evident that this woman had children that came out of her but they did the same thing she did. Show me one church that ever came out of organization that didn’t go right back into it. There isn’t one. Not one. The Lutherans came out and then organized right back and today they are hand in glove with this ecumenical move. The Methodists came out and they organized right back. The Pentecostals came out and they organized right back. There is going to be another coming out, and praise God they won’t organize back because they know the truth. That group will be the bride of the last day.
Now it said here that this whore had children. Now what were they? They were daughters, for they were churches just like her. Now here is a very interesting point. Jezebel and Ahab had a daughter. That daughter married Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat and in II Kings 8:16 it says that “Jehoram walked in the ways of his father-in-law.” He went right into idolatry by this marriage. He brought God-fearing and God-worshipping Judah into idolatry. That is exactly what all these daughter churches have done, even as I have pointed out to you. They start in the truth and marry into organization and leave the Word for tradition, creeds, etcetera.
Sentence Against the Harlot Passed
Revelation 2:22-23, “Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
What? This woman has children? And she a whore? If that is the case that she had children by her whoredoms then she must be burnt with fire as the Word has said. That is exactly true. That is her end for she will burn with fire. Her end is the lake of fire. But stop and think about these children for a moment. A woman is the one out of whom the children come. It is evident that this woman had children that came out of her but they did the same thing she did. Show me one church that ever came out of organization that didn’t go right back into it. There isn’t one. Not one. The Lutherans came out and then organized right back and today they are hand in glove with this ecumenical move. The Methodists came out and they organized right back. The Pentecostals came out and they organized right back. There is going to be another coming out, and praise God they won’t organize back because they know the truth. That group will be the bride of the last day.
Now it said here that this whore had children. Now what were they? They were daughters, for they were churches just like her. Now here is a very interesting point. Jezebel and Ahab had a daughter. That daughter married Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat and in II Kings 8:16 it says that “Jehoram walked in the ways of his father-in-law.” He went right into idolatry by this marriage. He brought God-fearing and God-worshipping Judah into idolatry. That is exactly what all these daughter churches have done, even as I have pointed out to you. They start in the truth and marry into organization and leave the Word for tradition, creeds, etcetera. The Thyatirean Church Age Church Age Book Chapter 6
What will be the punishment of the harlot and her children? Well, it is going to be twofold. First He said, “I will cast her into a bed.” According to the last part of verse 22 it will be a bed of tribulation, or the great tribulation. That is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 25:1-13. There were ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. The five wise had oil (the Holy Spirit) but the other five did not. When the cry went up, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” the five foolish had to run seeking oil while the five wise virgins went in to the marriage. The five that remained outside were left to the great tribulation. That is what will happen to all who do not go up in the rapture. That is what will come upon the harlot and her daughters. Secondly, it says that he will kill them with death or as a literal translation says, “Let them be put to death with death.” This is a strange saying. We might say, “let a man be put to death by hanging, or by electrocution or some other way.” But this says, “Let them be put to death by death.” Death itself is the cause of their death. The Thyatirean Church Age Church Age Book Chapter 6
So you see, “Death” or “Organization” came, and the church died, or to make it plainer death became a resident wherein shortly before only LIFE reigned. As the original Eve brought death to mankind so now organization has brought death, for organization is the product of the double corrupters, Nicolaitanism and Balaamism, propagated by the prophetess Jezebel. Now Eve should have been burned along with the serpent for their awful deed. But Adam intervened, taking her quickly to himself so that she was saved. But when this Satanic religion has gone the full course of the ages, there will be no one to intervene, and she will be burned with her seducer, for the whore and her children and the antichrist and Satan will all find their places in the lake of fire. The Thyatirean Church Age Church Age Book Chapter 6
A FINAL WARNING
Revelation 2:23, “And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am He Which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.”
God looketh on the heart. That has never changed. Neither will it ever change. Here, as through all the ages there are two groups, both proclaiming their revelation from God and their relationship to God. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His,” II Timothy 2:19. “The Lord searcheth the reins.” The word “search” means to “track” or “follow up.” God tracks down our thoughts (reins); He knows what is in our hearts. He sees our works which are a definite manifestation of what lies within us. The Thyatirean Church Age Church Age Book Chapter 6
THE PROMISE IN THOSE DARK DAYS
Revelation 2:24-25, “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.” Now before we go into the promise let me show again that the church as spoken of by the Spirit in this book has two vines whose interwinding branches compose it. “But I say unto you, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine.” There it is. He is speaking to the two groups. One has the doctrine, another has not. There they are, scattered abroad across the nations with each one’s doctrine opposing the other. One is of God, knowing His depths, the other of Satan, knowing the depths of Satan.
“I will put upon you none other burden.” The word for burden is weight or pressure. The pressure of the Dark Ages was either bend, or be broken. Bow or die. It was the inquisition, the power of the empire backing up Satanic worship. Be organized or pay with your life. Each age had its pressures. For example a great burden of the last age is the pressure of riches, soft living and nervous tensions in a complex age that we seem unfitted to live in. This fourth age seems to have had a clear cut burden. It was to defy Rome, stand up for the Word even unto death.
“They have not known the depths of Satan.” It seems that this verse has been left out by the commentators for they were not able to figure out what doctrine or what experiences are meant by this phrase. Actually it is simple to know what is meant. Let us first know what the depth of God is, and the opposite will be true for the depth of Satan. In Ephesians 3:16. “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Now according to these verses, when a man experiences the depth of God in his life, it is an actual personal experience of the Spirit of God indwelling him, and his mind is illuminated by the wisdom and knowledge of God through the Word. But the depth of Satan will be in that he will attempt to destroy this. He will as always attempt to make a substitute for this reality of God. How will he do it? He will take away the knowledge of the truth of God — destroy the Word by putting forth his own, “Yea, hath God said?” He will then substitute the personal Christ in our spirits. He will do it, as he caused Israel to do the same; by a human being reigning as king instead of God. The born-again experience will be rejected in favor of church joining. The depths of Satan had been entered into in that age. And the fruit of that depth of Satan which are lies, murders and horrible crimes came forth from it.
THE REWARDS
Revelation 2:26-29, “And he that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
“He that overcometh, and keepeth My works unto the end.” It is very evident from the remarks of the Spirit on works that the Lord is trying to get His own to see His opinion of righteous works. Four times He mentions works. And now He says, that he who keeps doing His works faithfully until the end will be given power over nations, and will be a strong, capable, unbending ruler who can cope so powerfully with any situation, that even the most desperate enemy will be broken if need be. His demonstration of rule by power will be like unto the very Son’s. This is very amazing. But let us look at this promise in the light of the age. Powerful Rome with state backing, employing kings and armies and legislators, breaks and grinds all before it. She has killed millions and hungers to kill millions more who will not bow to her. She intolerantly sets up kings or brings them low whenever she can. Yea, her interference has actually caused nations to fall because she has determined to destroy the elect of God. Her works are the works of the devil, for she murders and lies as did he. But there is coming a day wherein the Lord is going to say, “Bring these Mine enemies before Me and slay them.” Then shall the righteous be with their Lord when His righteous indignation will fall upon the blasphemers. The righteous coming with Him in glory, shall destroy those who destroyed the earth and made havoc of the saints of God. This was the age of turning the cheek, of terrible distress; but a day is coming when truth shall prevail and who shall stand in its fire and be safe? Only the redeemed of the Lord.
“And I will give him the morning star.” According to Revelation 22:16, and II Peter 1:19, Jesus is the Morning Star. “I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” “Until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” The Spirit is, therefore, making a promise to the elect of the Dark Ages relative to Himself and then in the ages to come.
As we have already stated, Jesus identifies Himself with the messengers of each age. They receive from Him the revelation on the Word for each period. This Word revelation brings the elect of God out of the world and into full union with Jesus Christ. These messengers are called stars because they shine with a borrowed or reflected light of the Son, even Jesus. They are also called stars because they are “holders of light” at night. Thus in the darkness of sin, they bring the light of God to His people.
This is the Dark Ages. It is especially dark for the Word of the Lord is almost entirely hidden from the people. Knowledge of the Most High has almost ceased. Death has overcome vast numbers of the believers until their ranks are decimated. The things of God are at the lowest ebb to this date, and it seemed that Satan would surely conquer God’s people. If ever a people needed a promise embracing the land where there is no night, it was the people of the Dark Ages. And that is why the Spirit is promising them the morning star. He is telling them that the Chief Star, even Jesus, Who dwelleth in Light unto which no man can approach, will in the future kingdom illuminate them by His own personal presence. He will not be using the stars (messengers) to give light in darkness any longer. It will be Jesus, Himself, speaking to them face to face as He shares His kingdom with them. The Thyatirean Church Age Church Age Book Chapter 6