1600-5 Church

REVELATION 2:18-29
“For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known”
(Lk.12:2).
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every
man have praise of God” (1 Cor.4:5).

3. Christ declares that His feet are like brass. Christ is able to step down hard upon all seductive teaching and com-
promise. He rules and He judges. His feet shall crush all those who compromise with the world. In addition, His feet shall
crush all false teachers of compromise. The reason is clear: He is the only true spokesman and messenger of God. All others
are false. Therefore, they must be judged and cursed. Note that Jezebel was claiming to be a prophetess, a spokesman, a mes-
senger of God.

“The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived
also that one event happeneth to them all” (Eccl.2:14).
“In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel”
(Ro.2:16).
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh
with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly
among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard
speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him” (Jude 14-15).
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty
God” (Rev.19:15).
“Before the LORD for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth” (Ps.96:13).

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(2:19) Church—Believers: there is the commendation. Thyatira was a very active church, involved in all kinds of works
for the Lord. And note: Christ says that He knows all about their works for Him:

“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” (v.19).

1. There were works of love and service. These would include ministries that especially showed love. That is, minis-
tries that concentrated upon showing care and interest, concern and provision. Such ministries would include...
• evangelism: reaching out to the lost • the hungry
• the youth: growing and developing them • the homeless
• the adults • the shut-ins
• the senior adults • the foreigners
• the college students • the prisoners
• the needy • the poor
• the orphans • the single parent and child
2. There were works of faith and patient endurance. These would include ministries that demanded strong faith and
endurance in order to carry them out. It would include...
• lacking the money or personnel or space or some other resource, but believing God and sticking to it until
the ministry was operating.
• facing opposition, but believing God and going ahead and persevering in the ministry.
• facing a difficult ministry such as visiting unbelievers or prisoners or derelicts or whatever, but trusting God
and going ahead anyway.
• being required to sacrifice time or money or possessions, but doing it because one believes God.
• being tired and weary and not wanting to participate in a particular ministry, but trusting God and going
ahead and persevering in it.
• feeling inadequate and incapable, but accepting the challenge, believing God, and enduring in the ministry.
3. There was even a significant growth in the ministries of the church. The church grew and expanded. It reached out
more and more. It was apparently as active as it could be, ministering to the community in every way that a church should,
and it continued to grow.

Thought 1. Think of the kind of church being described: dynamic, vibrant, alive—meeting all the social needs of
the community—having all the ministries that ranged all the way from a clothes and food closet over to reaching out
to the lost in a regular visitation program. The church was full of activity and energy and crowded with people. Yet,
the church was a far cry from what it should have been. It was a compromising and corrupted church.
It was allowing a teacher to teach who compromised with the world, and it was allowing the worldly to be bap-
tized and accepted into the church without repenting and separating from the pleasures, possessions, and immorali-
ties of the world. The church appeared to be the most alive and dynamic church in the area, but it was not—not to
the Lord. To the Lord the church was corrupt because of its compromise with the world. This is the discussion of
the next note.
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