One of the great messages of Revelation is that Christ’s people are made strong and persevere by their knowledge of Him. This is why Jesus appeared to John in the opening vision of chapter 1, shining forth in divine glory and garbed in the offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. Conversely, this fits the warning given by Jesus when He reproved false believers, saying: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matt. 7:22-23). As Jesus saw it, a false and dead faith results from not truly knowing Him, whereas a true and obedient faith flows from knowing Jesus in a personal relationship of saving faith.

This principle explains why each of the seven letters in Revelation 2-3 begins with a piece of the portrait of Christ given in chapter 1. The churches will respond to Christ’s message in light of their awareness of who and what Jesus is. This shows the importance of the presentation of Christ in His fourth message, to the church in Thyatira. Here, Jesus displays Himself in a way that many professing Christians will be challenged to accept but that should inspire us to holy, faithful lives. He describes Himself as “the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze” (v. 18). He is the Lord who knows our works, who hates all sin, who judges the unrepentant in His church, and who bestows glory on those who conquer in His name.

All through the messages to His churches, Jesus says that He knows the good works of His people. Believers are born again by the Holy Spirit and equipped by God’s Word “for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:17). This being the case, Christians should be devoted to good works. “Let your light shine,” Jesus said, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). Jesus reminds the church in Thyatira, “I know your works” (v. 19). Likewise, Jesus knows and will remember our good deeds when He returns from heaven. “Well done, good and faithful servant,” He will tell His obedient people. “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21).

Having mentioned the Thyatirans’ “works,” Jesus specifies their “love and faith and service and patient endurance” (v. 19). Where there is love, there will be service; and where faith flourishes, there God’s people will patiently endure. What particularly stands out in Thyatira is that the church was continuing to grow spiritually and in good works: Jesus says, “Your latter works exceed the first” (v. 19). These believers set a good example for us today. Part of what makes Christianity so exciting is that we are called to continually grow in terms of our knowledge of God’s grace (2 Pet. 3:18), our personal holiness (Eph. 4:24), our love for others, and our good works.

Despite the initially good impression of Thyatira, there was a very serious problem. For all its love, faith, service, and steadfastness, we heard no commendation for its holiness. This is a matter about which Jesus cares very deeply, and His rebuke and warning over tolerated sins makes this the longest of His seven messages to the churches.

Jesus’ use of the name Jezebel in verse 20 indicates what Thyatira’s false prophetess was teaching. This second Jezebel encouraged Christians to participate in the ceremonies and feasts of the trade guilds, even to participate in the sexual sin and eat the food sacrificed to idols. Jezebel’s doctrine stated that one might please both God and the world and that Christians do not have to be different from others just because of their faith in Jesus.

Jesus’ response to this Jezebel’s seductive ministry reminds us of two things concerning sexual purity. First, the Bible associates sexual sin with idolatry. The Old Testament often compared idolatry to sexual infidelity (Hos. 1:2; Jer. 3:9). Sex is God’s gift to be blessed within marriage and for the procreation of holy children. Those who engage in sexual sin divorce God’s gift from God’s holy purpose and thus make a god of their desires. Second, Jesus’ emphasis highlights the importance of sexual purity to the Christian life. In general, the idea that believers in Christ may continue to live like the world is false. It is evident that Christ’s rebuke of sexual sin needs to be heard by professing Christians today. Christians who have joined in with the sexual sin of our culture have evidently forgotten that Jesus is a holy Lord who hates all sin, and especially sexual sin.

Christians may not easily accept the description of Jesus that is found in the message to Thyatira. This is particularly the case with the depiction of Christ as the Lord who judges His church. What would most evangelical Christians today think if they were told not only that Jesus hates sin but that He commands church discipline and threatens to strike dead church members who do not repent? The evidence suggests that most evangelicals would be appalled by such a portrait of Christ. Yet this is exactly how Jesus presents Himself to the church in Thyatira (vv. 22-23).

Before judging His people, Christ first gives a call to repentance. This shows that His purpose is not to harm but to save His followers. Christ has goodwill even for people in serious sin, like Jezebel. He says, “I gave her time to repent” (v. 21). This indicates that church leaders had previously confronted her for her false teaching and wicked behavior. Here we see the importance of loving and faithful church discipline. Jesus reminds Christians to take Biblical reproofs seriously, especially when coming from faithful pastors or church elders. “But she refuses to repent for her sexual immorality,” Jesus goes on, and therefore His judgment was the only recourse.

This portrait of Christ provides numerous motivations to live godly lives, including our awareness that Christ hates sin and judges His church. A final reason is that Jesus is a reasonable and mild Ruler, who graciously gives glory to those who conquer in His name. The mildness of Christ is seen in His address to those who have not participated in Jezebel’s sins (vv. 24-25).

When Jesus speaks of “the deep things of Satan,” He is probably noting the false prophetess Jezebel’s claim that her worldly accommodation involved an advanced Christianity that only a few could comprehend. Instead, Jesus said, her teaching that Christians can safely enter into sin involves not deep Christianity but bondage to Satan. Christians are not to try to enter into esoteric knowledge or advanced states of spirituality beyond what is taught in the Bible. Instead, we are to hold fast what Christ has already revealed to us in Scripture.

Christ’s burdens are not actually heavy: “My yoke is easy, my burden is light,” Jesus said (Matt. 11:30). Far from being burdensome, Jesus is generous beyond all expectation. He promises two remarkable blessings to those who persevere in true, obedient faith, not mixing Christianity with idolatrous pagan practices. The first has to do with a share in Christ’s sovereign rule (vv. 26-27). The promise is that Christ will grant His faithful people the ability to faithfully shepherd His flock, using the rod to protect them from those who would do them harm.

Finally, Jesus promises to the believer who perseveres in a godly faith: “And I will give him the morning star” (v. 28). Jesus is promising to give Himself, the Light who shines brightly to cast away all darkness, as the most precious gift to His faithful people. Together with Himself, however, He is promising that we ourselves will enter into that shining brightness of glory through union with Christ in faith. Even in this life, Christians are empowered by Christ to “shine as lights in the world,” as children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation…holding fast to the word of life (Phil. 2:15-16). But when the morning of the resurrection comes, then the light of Christ and His people will shine with a glory that we can scarcely comprehend today.

Revelation 2:18-29 Study Questions:

Jesus praises the church at Thyatira and criticizes it (vv. 19-20). Why would the church need both?

What might have caused the believers at Thyatira to fall prey to the “Jezebel” deception?

What is required at the moment, for those who have not been drawn away by the teaching and practices of “Jezebel,” is that they “hold on tightly.” That is a word for all Christians today who find themselves in churches and fellowships where teaching and behavior which they know is not the way of the Messiah is being eagerly embraced and hailed as God-given. What challenges like this is the church generally or your fellowship in particular facing today? How might we “hold on tightly” in the face of these?